Second Chances
by Gamana
Summary: Things did not turn out well at the last second, so of course Urahara has a reset button. Suddenly, Ichigo is once again a nine year old boy watching his mother get attacked by a hollow. My own take on a Bleach time travel fic.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

1

There was a blinding white light. The first sensation after was rain. Ichigo was very confused by this turn of events. It hadn't been raining in the Royal Realm. He wasn't even sure it did rain in the Royal Realm. He concentrated trying to remember the events before the white flash. Urahara had thrown something at him and then nothing. Was that thing he had thrown at Ichigo the cause of the white light? And Aizen had been there too; with Urahara? What was happening?

The next thing he felt was the reiatsu of a hollow. It was so sudden and unexpected. Ichigo's mouth went dry and his body tensed in reaction. He may not be the best at sensing reiatsu, but he knew this hollow. It was the Grandfisher. Goat-face had killed the Grandfisher hollow, right? Also, very close to him, he could sense another person, a Quincy?

The Quincy was fighting the Grandfisher. Ichigo felt so useless. While someone else was risking their life he was on his knees scrabbling at the ground, which felt like asphalt. Asphalt? Was he even still in the Royal Realm? No. Where was he? How did he get here?

He reached over his shoulder with his right hand and to his waist with his left looking for Zangetsu only to have his hands close around thin air. _No! I can't loose them again. _Loosing his powers the first time had sent him on a downward spiral he had not even recognized until it was almost too late. Having his companions back in his inner world had made him realize just how lonely he was without them. The only bright side to the whole situation was that he still had his reiatsu.

He raised his reiatsu. So what if he couldn't feel Zangetsu at the moment. He still had his reiatsu. If he couldn't kill this hollow with Zangetsu, then he would crush it. As his vision cleared he saw the hollow stumble under the assault. The Quincy was standing right in front of him, a woman. Long blond hair pulled back into a low pony tail. __Mom?__ _It can't be._

The woman whipped around at the increase in reiatsu. Wide brown eyes stared back at him in surprise, and his heart stopped beating. It was her. His mother was standing in front of him, alive.

He gazed past her truly taking in his surroundings for the first time. This was the exact spot where she had died. He could see the river, the rain, the empty road. Everything was as he remembered it that day, as it had been burned into his memory forever.

On instinct he increased his reiatsu. Hate added fuel. He had no idea what was going on, but he could not let this woman, his mother, die here again. The Grandfisher was pinned to the ground, unable to move and was slowly suffocating. It was almost done. Soon the hollow would be dead.

Suddenly his mother, who had been standing fine under his reiatsu, started to struggle for breath. She fell to the ground, and Ichigo had to let up on his spirit pressure lest he kill her as well. Ichigo remembered suddenly that this was not just the day his mother lost her life, but the day she also lost her powers as a Quincy. The day Yhwach culled his herd. Ichigo could not kill the hollow without killing her as well. He did not have the control necessary to pick targets for his reiatsu.

He stood with tears running down his face mixing with the rain. No, he could not be this useless again. Ichigo moved himself between the hollow and his mother. This time he would save her, even if he had to sacrifice himself; even if this was just one of Aizen's illusions.

A flash of green caught Ichigo's attention. Urahara appeared at his side, hat pulled low over his face, Benihime in hand. Ichigo saw red. He remembered Urahara in the Royal Realm standing next to Aizen. And now he was just coincidentally here of all places watching a mother desperately try to protect her son, and he did nothing. Ichigo wanted nothing more than to kill the traitorous bastard in that moment.

Urahara was looking at him with a surprised expression on his face. "Urahara you evil bastard! Kill it," Ichigo screamed at him. "Kill it now! If she dies I will destroy you!"

Urahara lurched backward at the forceful words. He was positive the boy had never met him. How did he know his name? Ichigo stared at him with pure venom in his eyes. The boy was swaying slightly from over exerting himself. The sheer amount of reiatsu he was giving off draining his already depleted reserves. Making his decision Urahara drew Benihime and dispatched the hollow with a casual flick of his wrist. Behind him the boy collapsed from exhaustion as soon as the hollow reiatsu dissipated, next to his still living mother.

2

Ichigo woke in the familiar surroundings of the spare bedroom in Urahara's shop. He scowled at the thought of waking up in that scorpion's den. Urahara must have carried him here after he had fainted.

Ichigo attempted to sit up but lay back quickly when he felt a pain in his chest. Funny he did not remember being wounded. He lay still and checked himself over and felt no open wounds. His chest felt heavy for some reason, and his skin felt too tight. He also could not shake the sensation of feeling trapped.

He tried once more to call upon his sword spirits for advice but heard nothing. Swallowing, he lay back down and prepared to enter his inner world. It took him longer than expected to relax and descend into his mindscape. Anxiety kept clawing at the edges of his thoughts. But finally he managed to enter the horizontal city. He looked around at the deserted scenery. It was the same as always. "Shiro? Ossan?" He called.

There was no answer. Ichigo started to panic. Usually Zangetsu did not wait for him to call them. He crouched down and took deep breaths to calm himself. They weren't here. He still had his reiatsu, but Zangetsu was not here. He could not go through this again. He could not be alone again.

Ichigo's eyes snapped open back in the guest room of the shop. He leaped off the futon, ignoring the pain and dizziness and slammed open the shouji door. He stumbled drunkenly down the hall to the kitchen where he can hear Urahara and his father talking quietly.

Ichigo fell against the door jam breathing hard. He knew he was on the verge of a full blown panic attack and that this was not the best state to confront Urahara in, but he didn't care. He looked up to see Isshin half standing and Urahara staring at him. Both men gaped at him. "What did you do with them?" Ichigo growled rushing over and grabbing Urahara by the shirt.

"Ichigo-" his father started.

"Shut up Goat-face." Isshin was shocked into silence. His son had never called him that before. Where had it come from?

"Where are they? That flash, what did you do?" Ichigo screamed at Urahara.

"Where are who?" Urahara asked very confused by the whole situation. The boy did not act like any nine year old that he had ever seen.

"Zangetsu, you lying fuck! What did you do with them?"Ichigo screamed hysterically.

"Them?" Urahara for once in a very long time felt out of his depth.

"Ichigo," Isshin tried again to calm his son down by placing a hand on the boy's back. Ichigo flinched and turned on his father with wild eyes. Isshin took the boy's hands and pulled them from Urahara's shirt. "Who is Zangetsu?" He asked.

For the first time Ichigo really looked at his father. He looked a lot younger than he did the last time Ichigo had seen him, less care-worn. He looked down at his own hands in Isshin's. He was surprised at how small they looked, way too small. _How?_

"I don't understand what is happening. I need to talk with Zangetsu."

Those words hurt Isshin. Who was this Zangetsu to have earned Ichigo's trust when he would not talk to his own father? "Who is Zangetsu?" He tried again, attempting to remain calm. Ichigo's anxiousness was rubbing off on him.

Ichigo pulled himself free of Isshin's grasp and stumbled back a few steps. Frustrated tears ran down his face. He was angry. He hadn't cried this much since the night he regained his Shinigami powers. He fell back on the floor gazing dumbly at his much shorter legs. "Zangetsu," he choked out in a tiny voice. Both older men lean in to hear better. "Is my zanpakutou."

Isshin collapsed back in his chair in surprise. Urahara spread his fan over the lower half of his face in a blatant attempt to hid his own reaction. He gave Ichigo a considering look over the fan, blue-grey eyes trying to dissect the boy on the spot.

"How do you know what a zanpakutou is?" Isshin finally choked out.

Ichigo frowned and met Urahara's piercing gaze. "Not in front of him."

"Ichigo..." Isshin tried again.

"I don't trust him."

"Son."

"He is working with Aizen."

Urahara jerked at the name, eyes wide.

"Urahara-san is an old friend of mine." Isshin said.

"I bet," Ichigo shot back. "Aizen sent that hollow to kill mom."

Isshin stared at his son who was glaring at Urahara.

The blond sat very still under the scrutiny. "Why?" Ichigo asked in a broken voice. "Why did you take her from me?"

Urahara blinked. The boy thought his mother was dead? "Your mother is still alive," He said very carefully.

Ichigo stared unable to process the information fully. "Alive?" The hope in the boy's voice was painful to hear.

"Yes, very much so. She is resting. Her powers as a Quincy seem to be gone though," Urahara said softly.

"You would know. You planned for that to happen during the attack," Ichigo snapped at him.

Urahara studied the boy. He knew Ichigo was making his assumptions on … something. But they were deadly accurate nonetheless.

"Is that true?" Isshin asked him.

Urahara sighed. He would have to be very careful with how he answered that. Lost powers or not Isshin would find a way to kill him if he thought Urahara meant any harm to the man's family. But he had to salvage this situation. Aizen was going to be pissed. Ten years of planning just went down the tubes. He smiled slightly at the thought before wiping his face clear of emotions. "It was not my idea," He began. Isshin's face hardened at his words. "The attack was timed perfectly to when we knew she would loose her abilities." Isshin started to growl. "I was there to make sure that Ichigo himself did not die." Urahara looked down at his forgotten tea cup, turning it in his hands and trying to ignore the fact that he was sitting next to a man who now wanted to kill him. "As for why; we need the boy to be stronger."

"What the hell, Urahara?" Isshin yelled fists clenched in rage. He could not believe what the shop keeper was saying.

"This has something to do with the Soul King, doesn't it?" Ichigo asked. "Aizen was always very blunt about wanting to kill the Soul King. It's why you-"

"I would not call Aizen blunt in any sense of the word," Urahara said taking another sip of cold tea. He wondered why the boy spoke as if he knew both Aizen and himself personally. He would swear yesterday that the boy didn't even know his name. His hand shook slightly. He had not been caught off guard in over one hundred years. He was not happy about it. "May I ask you a question?" He ventured.

"No," was the immediate reply.

"But you do need my help, don't you?" Urahara asked slyly.

Ichigo grit his teeth. The answer was obviously yes. "I don't trust you."

"With good reason, but I will do anything in my power to help you nonetheless."

"You want me to kill the Soul King for you,right. I'm just a weapon to you."

Isshin gasped. He had been trying to follow the exchange between his son and the man he had always known was more than a little shady. He felt the two of them were having two different conversations, and he didn't understand either of them.

"No, Ichigo." Ichigo looked up at Urahara's words. The determination in the man's eyes stopped him cold. "I want you to replace the Soul King." This time it was Ichigo's turn to gasp in shock. "Your mother is making you soft. You will never reach the level required of you while you lean on her."

Ichigo remained silent.

"I thought I could trust you," Isshin said from Urahara's side.

"I am not in this to make friends Kurosaki-san," Urahara said pulling his hat lower over his face. He went on clinically. "Though I think your wife's death will be unnecessary now. The boy is already far stronger than I had thought possible."

A fist connected with Urahara's jaw. The man had been expecting it and did not even try to lessen the blow. Though being who and what he was he managed to keep his seat. He massaged his quickly bruising jaw.

"I want you to stay away from my family," Isshin said standing. "I know I can't fight you as I am now, but I wont stand by and let you use my son."

Ichigo cursed silently. This was not going well. He needed that lying sack of shit regardless of how untrustworthy he was. "Wait, Goat-face," Isshin twitched at the name. "This has already gone way too far. I'm already too powerful for us to ignore it. At the very least hollows will be attacking our home on a nightly basis. Right?" He asked directing the question at Urahara.

The man nodded. "His power is already greater than a good number of the taichou. They will find him."

Isshin glared at both of them. "Who will find him?"

"Everyone, I'm afraid," Urahara answered.

"I want to make a deal," Ichigo said.

"No," Isshin said. "You are too young to be involved in things like this." Ichigo crossed his arms over his chest and just looked at his father. For the first time since the hollow incident Isshin got a really good look at his son. The boy's eyes were much too knowledgeable for his age and far too determined. That calm gaze rattled Isshin more than anything else had so far. "Ichigo," He said trying to remain firm. "You are only nine years old. I am your father, and I say no."

Ichigo twitched. He was nine? Ignoring everything else his father said he turned to Urahara. "I want them back. I want Zangetsu back."

Urahara nodded. It was after all what he wanted as well.

"Ichigo!"

"Dad please." Isshin stopped at the sound of his son's voice. The soft, high pitch, on the edge of breaking down into tears. His son was begging him. He bowed his head in acquiescence. Ichigo had been hysterical while asking about his zanpakutou. He tried to remind himself that Ichigo needed this. He himself still felt the loss of his companion. He would be staying to keep an eye on both of them.

Urahara let go of the breath he had been holding. He was grateful that Isshin was going to go along with this. He suspected the man did not fully understand what his son was asking for but surprisingly the boy obviously did. "When?" He asked.

"Now."

Urahara sighed. It seemed that there was no way around it. He got up from the low table and led the way to his basement. He went in first. As they were climbing down the ladder he began to speak. "You know, it would be nice if I had time to prepare for this."

"No," was the only answer he got.

Ichigo wished his father had not come. He did indeed know what he was doing. He had done it before. It had taken awhile, the first time for him to realize that he was actually dead and in a sense possessing his own body. He rubbed his chest where his chain of fate would be in his spirit form. The cutting of his chain of fate had ended up being the least traumatic thing to happen to him that day.

"Wow," Isshin whistled in appreciation of the training room in spite of himself. Ichigo looked around at rocky terrain in the seemingly endless underground chamber. He remembered his own awe and surprise the first time he had seen it. His lack of reaction had to look suspicious to Urahara. Indeed the 'humble shopkeeper' was studying him intently while leaning on his cane. The man looked distinctly unhappy. As if he had run into a puzzle that he could not immediately solve. _Well tough_, Ichigo thought. The traitor wasn't going to get answers from him._ He can figure it out all on his own._ Ichigo huffed. He was dreaming after all. If Urahara didn't already know what was going on he was half way there.

Ichigo walked up to the man dearly wishing he already had Zangetsu in his hands. "I have no choice but to trust you," He said for Urahara alone. "But if you hurt anyone I care about again, I will end you." He looked Urahara dead in the eye and tried to ignore the fact that his father was standing right there ready to protect him. "Separate my soul from my body," The boy stated calmly. Isshin gave a shocked cry of surprise, only now catching on to what they were doing.

"Done this before have you?" Urahara asked lightly. "Ichigo, you do know what you are asking, hmm?"

"Yes, I do."

Urahara hummed again and put a finger to his chin affecting a thoughtful pose. "Obviously you do not trust me. Perhaps it would be wiser to ask someone like say your father, to do the deed."

Ichigo glared at Urahara and tried his damnedest to remember all the times Urahara had actually helped him, in his own twisted way. "Of all the people I would ask, you are the only one ruthless enough to do it."

"You say such shocking things for a little boy." With that Urahara lifted his cane and smacked Ichigo on the head with the end. Even though Ichigo was expecting it, Urahara still managed to take him by surprise. His body slumped lifeless to the ground. Ichigo himself felt what seemed to be a rush of wind and then a lightness all over his body. He fell backward, tripping over the chain that still connected him with the slumped form of his real body. He fell and lifted a section of chain curiously. He tugged lightly and felt a dull ache in his chest. _That's the pain_, he thought. _What is going on?_ He was still attached to his body by the chain of fate. He had thought he only needed help separating himself from his body like he always did.

He looked over to where his father was clutching his lifeless body to his chest. Isshin was wide eyed and pale. Ichigo really did feel for the man. He was going to watch his son die after all. Ichigo closed his eyes for a moment to prepare himself. He pushed his doubts away and got back to his feet. He stood in front of Urahara who merely looked back questioning. Ichigo himself remained silent. He grabbed a length of chain and pulled it taunt between his hands. He thrust the chain at Urahara.

The man actually seemed to falter for a moment. A shadow of doubt plain to seen in his eyes. "You cannot go back," he said.

"I go forward," Ichigo answered unflinchingly.

"No," Isshin choked out. "You can't." He grabbed Urahara's arm "You are killing him."

"Regrettably," Urahara answered the unasked question. "But your son is strong, Kurosaki-san, stronger than even I expected."

"Do it," Ichigo said.

"Ichigo," Isshin pleaded.

"It's too late, tou-san." Ichigo said bowing his head so that Isshin could not see his eyes. "You just don't know how late." He finished in a whisper.

Urahara seized his chance in the silence. He drew his sword, his arm shot forward, and the chain between Ichigo's hands severed with an anticlimactic tink.

Ichigo suddenly felt lighter. This was how his soul body was supposed to feel. He grinned unconsciously and did a quick shunpo backward just to see if he could. He ended up about ten yards from the two men. Both stared at him.

"How?" Urahara asked.

Isshin gaped at his son while still crushing the young body to his chest. "Don't hurt my body, dad. Once I get Zangetsu I will be able to use it again."

Isshin blinked and turned to Urahara for conformation. The man nodded his head in answer.

Ichigo wondered briefly what they each thought of this development. Shrugging it off as unimportant he tried a couple more bursts of shunpo. After the last he was sweating. Evidently even his spirit body was not used to extreme exertion. He plopped down ungracefully and crossed his legs. He was eager to get Zangetsu back. "Just don't bother me while I am looking for Zangetsu." He threw over his shoulder before closing his eyes and preparing himself to enter his inner world.

3

The sun in his inner world was bright, almost cheery. It shown down on the horizontal landscape and reflected off the glass windows of the skyscrapers. After a few minutes of collecting his thoughts, Ichigo tried to remember how he had found Zangetsu the first time. Somehow he had thought it would be easier when his inner world wasn't disintegrating. He walked slowly along the building he was on trying to picture what he had done before. It had been three years after all. An image of a red ribbon floated across his mind. _Oh, yeah_. _Shinigami have red spirit ribbons, and so did Zangetsu._

Ichigo closed his eyes and felt for it. White threads surrounded him and he fished through them. After a few minutes the red thread flashed across his mind. He grabbed it intent on following it to Zangetsu. There was another flash of red. "What the hell?" Ichigo reached out and grabbed that thread too. He looked at the threads. They were distinctly two different threads. He scratched his head in annoyance.

Another red thread appeared just out of reach. Ichigo stared at it completely flummoxed. More and more red threads joined the first ones. "How the hell am I supposed to find Zangetsu now?" Ichigo bit his lip and grabbed a thread at random. He followed it to the end and as he touch the end of the thread a memory came to his mind. He was standing under the moon of Las Noches watching three hollows chase a little girl across the dessert: Nel.

Memories, the red threads were his memories from being a Shinigami. Only one of them would lead him to Zangetsu. He could do this. He just needed to concentrate on Zangetsu, as he had done when he found that little boy's spirit to lead him to Chad. All of those threads had been white, so... He thought about the sword spirits and many of the threads faded.

But that left him with another problem. There were so many different incarnations of Zangetsu that even he was confused by them on occasion. The Zangetsu he wanted was not the single blade or the first incomplete blade he had. It was his dual blade. Because both of them were Zangetsu after all. He thought back to the moment in Ouestu Namaiya's palace, when he had first held the two blades, and his resolution to accept both of them, all of himself.

A single red ribbon remained in his hand. It tugged almost playfully in the wind leading him on. Ichigo shunpoed over the landscape of his inner world on his way to find his closest companions. When he stopped at the end of the ribbon he noticed that it disappeared into thin air, but it clearly looked attached to something. Ichigo trailed his hand along the ribbon to the very end. He frowned as he felt nothing from where the ribbon ended.

Frustrated he grabbed the ribbon and yanked. From out of thin air the hilt of a long sword appeared, black and red with red tassels. "There you are," He said pulling the sword. He had to step back several times due to his new lack of height. The sword clunked on the glass when he pulled it completely out. "Eh," He stood the sword on its point. It was almost two feet taller than he was. "You just can't be agreeable, can you?" He groused at the sword.

4

He awoke in Urahara's basement with a plain long sword laying across his lap, completely black save for the red on the hilt. He was dressed in his normal shihakushou: black with two white straps across his chest to hold his shikai blades, with shoulder guard on his left, and a white cloak tied around his waist with black markings. Both his father and Urahara were staring at him. They had evidently moved off a ways and settled on some of the smaller rocks to watch.

This was becoming a very disturbing theme with them. It was almost as if they expected him to do tricks. His father came over and leaned over his shoulder to to get a good look at the blade. "You can call it without the aid of an asauchi?" He asked. "That should make it weaker."

Ichigo glared at him. "I can infuse it into an asauchi later, if you have one lying around. Until then, they will be strong enough."

Isshin blinked. Mentioning the asauchi had been something of a test. But his son's confidence in himself and apparently his zanpakutou remained unshaken. He did not expect his son to even know what an asauchi was. It was also surprising the way he always addressed his zanpakutou in the plural. Isshin wondered if that meant it was a dual blade.

Ichigo stood with some difficulty. The long sword threw him off balance. He started to pull the sheath off the blade but only managed to get half of the blade out of the sheath before he had his arm fully extended. He growled at the blade. He really did hate his nine year old body.

His dad coughed suspiciously and Urahara had that damn fan covering his mouth and likely a wide grin underneath. Ichigo wrinkled his nose and scowled at the half sheathed blade. "Do you need some help, son?"

"No," Ichigo snapped prompting another smothered laughing fit from his dear old dad. Leaving the sheath where it was he grabbed the hilt in both hands and swung the sword across his body with all of his might. The sheath flew off the end of the blade and skidded to a stop several meters away. He could already hear Zangetsu laughing at him, and he hadn't even unsealed the bastard yet. It didn't help his temper at all that both men were laughing at him again as well and not even bothering to hide it.

As much as it pained him, his instinct was telling him that he would need the sheath to unseal his zanpakutou, so he stomped over to it while the old men snickered at him. He shot both of them a withering look as he bent to pick up the sheath. Isshin just giggled harder. _Stupid Goat-face_, he thought uncharitably. _I am so glad he is entertained._

Ichigo held both blade and sheath in his hands, blade in his right hand and the sheath in his left. He thrust both out in front of him parallel to the ground. The blade shook as he was barely strong enough to hold it.

He closed his eyes and let his reiatsu build around him, savoring the feeling. It was not often he got to release his zanpakutou. Both Urahara and Isshin stopped laughing and backed away as the reiatsu whipped at their clothes. Urahara clamped down on his hat with his hand to keep it from being blown away.

"Cleave the sky asunder, Zangetsu!"

The reiatsu swirling around him blew outward as a pillar of pale blue light shot up into the darkness. When the light cleared Ichigo was left with two blades in his hands. In his right he held a giant Khyber knife, pitch black with a cut out going half way down the blade from the hilt; and in his left a trench knife easily as long as his arm, also pitch black. Both men stared in wonder at the small boy.

Ichigo swiftly sheathed the blades as they had scaled down to his actual size. The quick movement startled both men. It had been far too practiced for someone unsealing their blade for the first time.

Ichigo had closed his eyes and was obviously speaking with his sword spirit. Suddenly two men stood behind Ichigo. The one on the right was a young man, dressed completely in white, white skin and white hair that stood in spikes as Ichigo's tended to do. But the eyes were yellow on black sclera. Urahara's own eyes widened in surprised as he sensed the reiatsu given off by the young man. It was a hollow.

The man on the left was even more shocking. The reiatsu was that of a Quincy! He was a tall man in his mid-forties. With the shadow of a beard and long unkempt hair. He wore a long black cloak and tinted sunglasses over his eyes. For a zanpakutou to have two spirits that did not hold the reiatsu of a Shinigami but the other aspects of the boy's heritage... Urahara frowned.

Ichigo himself broke both men from their respective thoughts. He jumped at the hollow. Isshin and Urahara did not know how to react to this. It was clearly a hollow, without a mask and no visible hole, but still a hollow. The hollow in question caught Ichigo mid jump and lifted him up so that Ichigo could wrap his arms and legs around him. Ichigo buried his face in the hollow's shihakushou. The dark haired man leaned over and whispered something into Ichigo's ear, to which Ichigo nodded.

"Hey Aibou, you shrunk," The hollow said double-tone voice tinged with amusement. Ichigo's only reply was to lightly punch the hollow on the shoulder.

Both of the spirits faced the two, once again, shocked men. "Yo!" the hollow greeted a maniacal grin spreading across his face. The older man merely nodded.

"Hi!" Urahara called back with a cheer he did not feel. Isshin looked at him like he was insane. He had yet to get over the surprising forms his son's zanpakutou spirits had taken as well as the dual blade itself.

The zanpakutou spirits stared Urahara down until he pulled down his hat frowning. "Maa, It seems you hold your wielder's opinion of me."

"I want you dead," the hollow stated plainly.

Urahara paled.

"You are a devious and amoral man," The other spirit said. "The only reason you are still alive is that his mother lives too. I suggest you start to take Ichigo seriously."

"I see," Urahara said.

"Speaking of-" the hollow interrupted anything else Urahara would have said. "King here is falling asleep."


	2. Chapter 2

1

Ichigo woke once more lying on a futon in the Urahara shoten. He immediately probed for his zanpakutou spirits. Tension he hadn't even been aware of evaporated when he got two responses to his inquiry. A slight, relieved smile shifted across his features before his usual frown settled into place. The expression looked strange on his nine year old face.

He was surprised to still be at Urahara's since he had gotten the man to admit to conspiring toward his mother's death. He had expected to wake up at home safe in his own bed. Ichigo pushed back the blanket covering him and walked to the shouji door. He stopped with his hand on the door uncertainly. Urahara had said that his mother was still alive. He did not know if he could face her right now; after all that he had done. Would she be proud of him? He already knew that he could not be the happy, innocent son he had been only yesterday to her.

Only one way to find out. Ichigo took a deep breath and opened the door. He walked slowly down the hall to the common area where his mother and father sat across from Urahara at the low table. He stopped at the door unable to go any further. His mother really was alive, worried and clearly uneasy with the current situation but alive. His dad was wearing an unfamiliar scowl that rivaled Ichigo at his best. It was a bizarre experience to see it. Urahara looked his usual unflappable self, but he had pulled his hat low over his eyes, a clear indication that he was hiding his true emotions.

"Morning," He croaked just to break the silence that was pressing down on him. All three adults had turned toward him.

"Afternoon," His father said staring into his eyes, searching. "You were out for quite some time."

Before anything else could be said Masaki stood and rounded the table at a speed that could have been considered a shunpo. Before Ichigo registered what was happening she was on her knees in front of him pulling him into an embrace. Ichigo froze in shock. It had been a long time since anyone had hugged him like that. He was not used to being the one being comforted. Hesitantly he hugged her back.

"You okay?" Masaki asked her son.

Ichigo nodded unable to speak. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes, and he almost started crying. Masaki lifted him up and sat him on her hip. Ichigo did not protest the action. It was all he could do just to control himself. She made her way back to her seat at the table and situated him on her lap. With Ichigo technically being a young man this made him somewhat uncomfortable. He sat stiffly hoping this would be over soon.

Urahara was staring at him openly, and his father was sipping at his tea with a thoughtful frown on his face.

Urahara broke the silence. "Kurosaki-kun, your parents and I have been talking since you fell asleep. I have my own theories, but it would probably be best to hear your side of the story."

Ichigo blinked at the man. He was damned if he was going to poor out his soul in front of this man. Besides, Urahara was so smart he had probably already figured it out.

"You know that I am an inventor, correct?" He went on when Ichigo did not take the the bait and start talking.

"Yes," Ichigo said after a long moment. He stared at the blond until Urahara started to sweat.

"I have a theory as to how you could possibly know that." Urahara licked his lips slightly nervous. "There is a device that I have that could, if it worked, explain your recent behavior and knowledge."

Ichigo thought carefully for a moment about how manipulative he knew Urahara was before answering. "The last thing I saw before a bright flash of light was you throwing something at me." He said carefully.

"Mm, did it look like this?" Urahara reached into his haori and pulled something out. He sat what looked like a palm sized crystal ball that you see fortune tellers use on the table. It even had a smoky center that flashed periodically.

Ichigo glanced at it. "Yeah, that's it."

"Really?" Urahara asked unsuitably interested in the answer given the current situation. "If it had even worked you would have only had a split second to see it."

Ichigo stared at him some more.

"Anyway," Urahara continued sensing yet another dead end to the conversation. "As I was explaining to your parents before you woke, which you have just confirmed, you are from the future."

Ichigo looked down at his too small hands, "Sort of," He conceded.

Urahara smile in that mysterious way that Ichigo had learned to dread. "Well it was only meant to send a soul back not a living body."

"How far into the future are you from?" His father blurted.

Ichigo puffed out his cheeks. "Nine years." He said.

They all stared at him. "Nine..." He heard his mother whisper.

"Only eighteen and you are already dead and achieved shikai?" Isshin said voice raising in pitch. He coughed uncomfortably after his voice cracked. "It shouldn't be possible for such a thing to happen."

"I am kind of a special case," Ichigo said as his mother's arms tightened around him.

"Special case?" Urahara asked interest peeked once again.

"Yes," Ichigo said moving his arms to get his mother to loosen up her grip. "I am still in my body, so sort of ... not dead?" He scratched his head not really knowing how to explain the circumstances he had lived with for the last three years.

"What are you talking about?" Masaki growled.

Ichigo froze in shock. His mother had growled? He could not for the life of him remember a time when his wonderful, smiling mother had growled. Isshin was sweating and even Urahara looked uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"Ah, honey," Isshin said rubbing the back of his head nervously. "You see, our sweet baby boy was very single minded about getting his zanpakutou back."

Masaki pinned her very brave and very stupid husband with a withering glare. "And this leads you to believe that my son is dead, how?" She said voice dripping venom. Her arms tightened painfully around Ichigo. He squirmed, and Masaki immediately loosed her hold, but did not let him go.

Ichigo sighed as soon as he was able to breath and answered the question for his petrified father. "I had Urahara remove my soul from my body and cut my chain of fate."

"What!?" Masaki shrieked causing Ichigo to go momentarily deaf. She rounded on Urahara reaching across the table and grabbing him by the collar. Ichigo was pushed painfully into the edge of the table, but was ignored by the woman intent on choking Urahara to death. "You said you did not want to hurt my son," She snapped twisting the fabric in her hand. Urahara struggled trying to regain his balance from the surprise attack. Ichigo noted that the man looked as if he wanted to flee or maybe simply to breathe.

"Mom, it's alright," Ichigo wheezed. "I've done this before."

Masaki let go of Urahara and fell back into her chair. Everyone was looking at him in surprise. "From the future remember?" He glared at Urahara and rubbed his side where it had been shoved into the table. "We need to talk."

"You say that as if we wont be there," Isshin said. "And you are the one who said he was at least partially responsible for the hollow attack on Masaki, your mother. Why are you willing to trust him?"

"I don't trust him, not now. I did before..." He looked Urahara in the eyes. "You helped me out when I needed it the most."

Urahara blinked in confusion before pulling down his hat once more to shade his eyes. __Must kill hat,__ Ichigo thought vindictively. He really hated that thing.

"When I saw you standing with Aizen in the King's Realm-"

"We were in the King's Realm?" Urahara demanded.

Ichigo over road him. "I want to know why; why him?"

"But the King's Realm-" Urahara pouted. The man actually had the gall to pout.

"I have no intention of telling you of future events," Ichigo snapped. "Why?"

"I do what I do for the good of the Soul Society."

"You don't do anything without a personal reason."

Urahara shrugged. "You wont tell me about the future, and I will not give you my reasons. Let's just stick with what we are trying to change, hmm." He tapped his fan on the table decisively.

"Fine," Ichigo said. "Just tell me when you feel I need to know. But really, you are working with Aizen. How do you know he isn't lying to you?"

"Pardon?" Urahara asked piercing Ichigo with his eyes.

"Aizen's zanpakutou is an illusion type and more than capable of making you believe anything he wants you to," Ichigo elaborated.

Urahara frowned at the extent of the boy's information. How well had he known each of them anyway? If Urahara had doubted his time travel theory before, he did not now. That young face did not match the level of knowledge the boy possessed. To know Kyouka Suigetsu's true nature...

"Aizen has a way of immunizing people to his illusions. You can still see them of course, but they are translucent and easily identifiable," Urahara answered breezily.

Ichigo scowled. Urahara had given that information up way to easily. "Liar," Ichigo said with an air of confidence.

Urahara shrugged unrepentant. "His hypnosis wont work on me," he paused considering for a moment. "Though if there is anything I can do to help you, Ichigo-kun, let me know. We will work something out."

"That's enough," Isshin said standing abruptly. It had been difficult for him to sit and watch his son verbally spar with another ex-captain centuries older than he was. "We don't need anything. We are a normal, human family as far as the Shinigami are concerned. Let's go." Masaki stood with him. Each parent grabbed one of Ichigo's hands and lead him toward the front of the shop. "I don't want you anywhere near my family Urahara," Isshin threw over his shoulder. Hustling his wife and son out the door. "Stay away."

"Ma Kurosaki-san," Urahara called after them. "Your son is already much too powerful to hide, and in your current state you cannot protect him or your family from those who will come after him."

Isshin glared at the man.

"He's right," Ichigo said softly. "They will come after me eventually."

"We will talk again later once everyone has cooled down," Urahara said.

Before Isshin could reply Ichigo jumped in. "Yes, we will."

Isshin looked back and forth between the two at a complete loss as to what to do. In one day his happy little family had been torn apart. This Ichigo was so cold and distant, constantly frowning. That was not the little happy boy he knew. As he and his wife and son started to walk home he felt a small tug on his hand where it was wrapped around his son's. "I'm sorry," The boy said in a small voice looking at the ground. Inside his chest he felt his heart break.

2

Ichigo clung to his mother as he watched his father thank the elderly woman he vaguely remembered used to watch his sisters and him if both of their parents had to go somewhere. Evidently Karin and Yuzu had been put down for an afternoon nap and had not woken as yet.

"Are you hungry, sweetie?" Masaki asked brushing back his hair with her hand. He leaned unconsciously into the touch. Unable to speak, he just nodded his head. By his estimate he had not eaten anything in at least a day. He was famished. He gratefully sat at the table dangling his off the edge of the chair. Having to hop up into the chair did dampen his mood a bit though. Both of his parents shared a significant look at the near perpetual frown their son had gained since the hollow incident.

Once his mother sat a plate of rice balls out that had been in the fridge, she and Isshin sat across from their son, so that they could better observe him. Ichigo stopped woofing down the rice balls well aware of what the two wanted to know.

"Your father explained what happened with the hollow," His mother began. "I assume it is safe to say that Urahara-san did not help us the first time?"

Ichigo forced down the rice in his throat and nodded numbly. He had hoped to not have to talk about this part. He gazed steadily at the table and cursed himself for the tears he could not stop from running down his face. "You died," He said barely above a whisper.

His mother was kneeling beside his chair, arms wrapped around him once more before he registered what was happening. "It's okay, baby; I'm here."

Ichigo cried. His mother held him tightly and looked at her husband pleadingly.

Isshin had no answers for her. Time travel did explain Ichigo's sudden change in behavior though. The scowling face, the closed off behavior, all the things a young man with a loving family should not be expressing. Isshin wondered for a moment what he would do if Masaki had died yesterday. All he could think was that he was glad that he did not have to find out. It made him feel guilty that his son had indeed experienced that loss.

Ichigo sniffed loudly and pulled back from his mother. His eyes were puffy and tear streaks trailed down his cheeks. He also, for some reason neither parent could fathom looked angry with himself. "They want to come out," He said suddenly.

"Who does?" Masaki asked confused.

Isshin wasn't confused, though he was surprised that Ichigo could keep an open channel to his zanpakutou even in an emotionally distressed state. Isshin himself had never been nearly as close to Engestu.

"Zangetsu," Ichigo answered. The two spirits that Isshin remembered from Urahara's basement materialized behind Ichigo's chair. Masaki jumped back surprised. She stared at them wide eyed, obviously sensing the reiatsu the two individual spirits emanated. The younger of the two flashed a wide smile that would have scared small children, and the older nodded in greeting.

Masaki whipped around to face Isshin. "Is this normal?"

"No," Isshin answered plainly. "He shouldn't be able to manifest them." He blatantly ignored her real question. "It's a part of learning bankai. Manifesting your zanpakutou spirit outside your inner world is a test of spiritual strength and knowledge of self. You are this close to learning bankai?" he asked his son.

"I already have bankai."

Both Isshin and Masaki gaped at him. The hollow giggled. "Ya know Aibou, ya may wanna learn ta drop th' big ones with a bit more subtly."

Ichigo took the time to stick his tongue out at the hollow. Shiro giggled some more while Ossan shook his head in exasperation.

"Why did they want to come out?" Masaki asked faintly trying to keep the conversation going. Part of her wanted to be a good hostess to the two strange beings in her kitchen, but the larger part of her wanted to start screaming for the world to make sense again.

"Ossan hates the rain, and Shiro probably just wanted to tag along."

"Rain?"

"I- it rains in my inner world when I am sad."

"Oh, well, why don't you introduce us then?" Masaki prompted. She was completely mystified by her son's zanpakutou.

"Ichigo blushed at the subtle reprimand for not performing proper introductions. He cleared his throat. "Mom, dad, this is Zangetsu." He pointed at the Quincy. "I call him Ossan and that's Shiro." His finger moved to the hollow.

"Pleasure to meet you," Ossan said with a short bow.

"Hi," Shiro said. Ichigo eyed his suspiciously well behaved zanpakutou.

"Hello," Masaki said with a warm smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you both."

"Hello," Isshin coughed. He had never been introduced to a zanpakutou spirit before. The blades plenty of times of course but never the spirits themselves. Usually Shinigami kept their zanpakutou's abilities a secret and never ever introduced the spirit to anyone.

And Ichigo's spirits revealed so much about him and his heritage, too much really. He would have to caution Ichigo about that. His wife bless her, completely oblivious to the significance of this situation, invited the two to sit at the table. Shiro accepted the seat next to Ichigo, but the other zanpakutou spirit declined and chose to stand behind his son like some dark guardian or a devil ready to consume his soul. It was a disturbing thought that between the two it wasn't the hollow that made his hair stand on end.

Surprisingly Shiro nudged the plate of forgotten food closer to their son in an unsubtle silent command to eat. Ichigo frowned at Shiro and the hollow glared back. Ichigo huffed and began to eat once more.

"So a hollow and a Quincy zanpakutou?" Masaki asked.

Ichigo blushed uncertainly. He knew his mother was trying to understand more about him and reconnect with him but opening up had never been one of his strong points. "Yeah," he said and went back to eating.

"Son," Isshin began deciding that now was as good a time as any to warn Ichigo. "You do know that you shouldn't be manifesting your zanpakutou spirits on a whim. Especially those two."

Shiro and Ossan frowned at the implications.

Ichigo went still for a moment before answering. "Yes, I do. And Zangetsu does agree with you on that point. Ossan almost never manifests unless it is necessary, and unless we are alone Shiro wont manifest either."

"So this is necessary?" Isshin asked.

"I hate the rain," Ossan said voice flat and emotionless.

"Yes it is," Ichigo elaborated. "Besides both of them are fine with manifesting with you two around."

Masaki smiled at her son. She was happy that he still trusted them that much. "They are the reason you chose to die?"

"I can't live without them," Ichigo said very quietly. "But there are many reasons I cannot live a normal life." He looked at Isshin determined. "I will be going back to Urahara's."

"No," Isshin said instantly.

"It's not up for discussion Goat-face."

"Don't call your father that, Ichigo," His mother interrupted sternly. "Where do you even come up with a name like that?"

Ichigo blinked and examined his _clean shaven_ father. "Eh... well in the future he has a goatee," He said embarrassed. He had been calling Isshin Goat-face on reflex.

Masaki raised an eyebrow at her son, and tried real hard to fight a smile and remain stern. "Well, he is your father regardless and you will show him respect."

She turned to Isshin making sure her back was to Ichigo before mouthing triumphantly: __two to one.__They had had the argument over him growing a goatee just the other day. Isshin grunted in acknowledgment.

Ichigo was oblivious to this as he tried to figure out how to react to the situation. His first impulse was to say he would call Isshin whatever he damn well wanted to. He was eighteen years old and had fought in two wars.

On the other hand, this was his mother. Masaki had long ago reached a state of godhood as far as her family was concerned. He turned to his zanpakutou for support. Shiro was no help as he was trying extra hard not to burst into laughter and probably point at him. Ossan had a look on his face that clearly said: 'listen to your mother.'

"Fine, I'll be nice," Ichigo gave in gracelessly. "But I meant what I said."

"Ichigo," Masaki warned her son.

Puffing out his cheeks and ignoring the fact that Shiro was practically vibrating in his seat with silent laughter, Ichigo rephrased his earlier statement. "Tou-san, I will need to go back to Urahara's."

"Why do you need to associate with that man so badly?" Isshin demanded of his son.

Ichigo chewed on his lip. He did not want to explain his complex relationship with Urahara with his mother. He could care less what his father thought of him, but he did not want his mother to think badly of him. And so much of what happened over the last few years looks bad at first glance.

"He is the only one in the world of the living, maybe anywhere at all, that can get me what I need, and he has a place where I can train. Zangetsu wont have me going soft just because I'm nine again."

Masaki opened her mouth to say something when suddenly, both Zangetsu spirits jerked up and looked at the stairs. They faded away re-entering Ichigo's inner world.

"Mommy, daddy, who you talking to?" Karin asked coming into the kitchen. Yuzu followed hand firmly grasped by her sister's.

It was Ichigo's turn to be shocked. Both of his little sisters were... well little.

"Hey, girls," Masaki said going over to her daughters and giving each a big hug.

"I will be going back...tou-san." Ichigo whispered eyes never leaving the two little girls. The Karin and Yuzu that he knew were so different from these two.

Isshin stood up from the table and put his hand on Ichigo's shoulder. He bent down so that only Ichigo would hear him. "You may be older than you look now, but you re still my son. It is my job to protect you. Let me do my job."

Ichigo surprised them both with his response. He wrapped his arms around his dad in a hug. "I wish I could," was the whispered response. Isshin frowned as Ichigo let go and jumped off his chair to go see his sisters.

3

Later that night Ichigo lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, trying to process everything that had happened that day. His room was much the same it had been when he was a teenager. The only differences were the toys strewn across the floor and the colorful anime posters on his walls. He felt a gentle brush against his consciousness. Zangetsu wanted to talk. He did not feel as if he could enter his inner world in his current state so he pulled them into his room. He sat up and both spirits sat to either side of him on the bed.

"Has it stopped raining at least?" Ichigo asked just to break the silence. He knew he had not been in any state that would make living in his inner world comfortable since they had been sent back and was felt guilty about it.

"Yes, it has," Ossan assured him. "Ichigo, We need to plan how to proceed from here. I see that it will be an uphill battle to do as you wish with your father trying to interfere."

"What do you mean dad? Mom is the terrifying one," Shiro said with a snort.

"I don't remember any of that," Ichigo said. "Her being so aggressive, I mean. I'm not going to get between her and anyone she wants to kill ever again." He glanced at Shiro. "You were being surprisingly good tonight."

Shiro shrugged. "I don't want her mad at me either, and well, She kinda is my mom too..." He trailed off looking at his feet.

Ichigo smiled in understanding. "You were trying to make a good impression." His hollow hunkered down and grumbled under his breath clearly embarrassed.

"Anyway," Shiro said loudly changing the subject. "What 're we gonna do?"

"Stop Aizen for one," Ichigo said firmly.

"Easier said than done, Aibou," Shiro said.

"We may be from the future, but we have already made waves. Everything we know is probably useless at this point. Once he finds out you are not an ignorant child, he may not go forward with his original plan. And he will know through Urahara at the very least."

"So we kill them both?" Shiro asked hopefully.

"I bet Urahara is trying to contact Aizen as we speak," Ichigo said ignoring Shiro's default plan for everything.

"I believe so," Ossan said. "We must prepare and attempt to find out what his plans will be from here on."

"Much the same. I doubt he will completely scrap the arrancar. He and Urahara may be working together, but Aizen wants power, and he doesn't seem like the sharing type," Ichigo said.

"Are ya sure of that?" Shiro asked.

"I am sure that if he isn't already at that point he will be," Ichigo answered. "We have to destroy the Hougyoku," Ichigo decided. "Whatever plans either of them have we can't let Aizen get a hold of it again."

"Great plan, but how are you going to destroy the Over-powered Marble of Doom?" Shiro crossed his arms.

"Just me?"

"I got nothin,'" Shiro admitted. "It's got a crazy amount of reiryoku in it."

Ossan shifted his position on the bed drawing the attention of the other two. "Ichigo, if you wish to destroy the Hougyoku, then it is time for you to learn how to use more of your Quincy powers." The older man's mouth twisted oddly. "Besides, the unconscious use of Blut Vein."

"Huh?" Ichigo blinked dumbstruck. "I can use more Quincy abilities?"

Ossan grunted. "I speak of the basic reishi gathering technique every Quincy learns to create their weapons. You will merely be doing it on a much larger scale. And you will have to learn to draw only from a specific source."

"The Hougyoku," Ichigo said suddenly getting what Ossan was trying to say.

"Yes, you used Mugestsu the first time around, and the Hougyoku drained itself trying to keep Aizen alive. It's power is great but finite. If you use your Quincy powers to draw off that energy and use us to discharge it-"

"Um, safely?" Ichigo interrupted.

"We just have to make sure that no one is standing in the way," Shiro said grunting. Then he grinned. "But anything in the way will most likely be incinerated." Ichigo rolled his eyes. Leave it to the hollow to find the destructive lining in every cloud.

"Fine, lots more work for me. But that still leaves Urahara's part in all of this. What does he want?"

"To screw with everyone," Shiro answered promptly.

Ichigo scowled at him. Shiro was just so helpful sometimes. "First things first though: destroy the Hougyoku."

"Another reason to go back to Urahara's." Shiro pointed out, bringing them back to their original problem. "Your parents are goin', ta tie ya up before letten' ya go back."

Ichigo yawned. "Then I guess I'm a bit of a problem child." he said. He had every intention of sneaking out his window if he needed to. He yawned again. "I'm going to bed." He announced. "Stay with me?" He asked Shiro.

"Awww. Little King afraid of the dark?"

"Bastard, I just don't want to be alone right now."

Shiro snorted, lay down and curled around Ichigo. "G'night Ossan," Ichigo said. Drifting off.

"Good night, Ichigo." The spirit replied before disappearing back into his inner world.


	3. Chapter 3

1

The next morning Ichigo was jerked awake by a woman's scream. Before he was even fully aware of his surroundings, he had rolled out of bed into a fighting stance. His eyes darted around the room trying to assess where the danger was.

"It's just mom, Aibou," Shiro mumbled at him from where he was still curled up on the bed. Indeed, Masaki had come into her son's room and was standing at the door with eyes wide and her hand over her mouth. It took Ichigo a moment longer to clear the dregs of sleep from his brain and realize that she was reacting to seeing Shiro in his bed.

"Wait don't-" He said standing up to his full height. "Don't freak out," He pleaded. Seeing the two of them must have given her quite a shock.

Shiro sat up calmly and yawned. He looked between Ichigo and his mother. Then he shrugged at Ichigo and disappeared. "Thanks," Ichigo said statistically to the empty spot where Shiro had been. He wondered how he was going to explain this. "Um, I got lonely?" He asked as if questioning himself.

His mother frowned at him for a moment before letting the subject drop. "Breakfast is ready," She said tersely.

"No, really that's all it was," Ichigo said grabbing her skirt, trying to make her understand the gut wrenching loneliness he had felt when he had sacrificed his powers to stop Aizen. He never wanted to feel that again. When he had woken in the past and realized that he could not reach the two spirits; he had lost all rational thought. He had to have them back.

Masaki's eyes softened, and she knelt down to gave Ichigo a hug. Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief and returned the hug. After a moment she pulled back. "You should get dressed. You have school today."

Ichigo's relief turned instantly to horror. "School?" he asked.

"Yes, school, just like everyday," Masaki answered with a wry smile.

"I can't go to school," Ichigo said- almost wailed to Shiro's glee. The hollow zanpakutou spirit sill loved to torture his Ichigo on occasion. Ichigo was to busy remembering the nightmare that was elementary school to snap back at him.

Ichigo had been picked on constantly by the other children in school because of his bright-colored hair and his name. He had also been a bit of a crybaby much to his chagrin, especially after his mother's death. Some of the meaner bullies had taken pleasure in mentioning her death just to make him cry. This had gone on until he began to systemically beat the crap out of them.

Masaki crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at him. Ichigo was beginning to realize that he was not going to win this argument. His mother would not be moved from her current position on the subject. "You will be going to school," Was all she said, but it had a ring of finality to it.

But let it be said that Ichigo was not one to give up easily. "I have already been to school once, finished too... almost," Ichigo said mulishly. "It would be a complete waste of time. I even passed everything."

"I wont believe that unless you have the records," She had him there. Those records didn't even exist anymore. "And if you passed once, it shouldn't be that hard to do so again. School is important for your future."

"Not if I join the Gotei 13," Ichigo tried to reason with her.

The glare he got for that statement made him want to crawl under his bed and hide. His mother was scary when she was mad: Unohana scary.

Masaki looked her son dead in the eye. "You will go to school, you will _live_, your life in the _living _world, and any plans you have for being a Shinigami can wait until you are dead. Now get dressed." She swept out of the room to prepare the table for breakfast.

Ichigo could only stare after his mother with his mouth hanging open. He really had never pictured her like this. She had always been smiling and caring and gentle. His thoughts continued in this vein until he was jolted back to the present by his father's voice. "Tried to argue with her, didn't you?" He asked grinning at Ichigo's expression. "First time for everything, I suppose. And here I thought you were so smart for always going along with everything she wanted you to do."

Ichigo sighed. "I guess so. But I grew up, changed." He shook his head. "I have never seen her like that before. When she tried to strangle Urahara..."

"She was trying to protect you. It's a parent's job to protect their children," Isshin said. "She is still trying to protect you. I assume you know about the Quincy's?"

Ichigo nodded.

"Well, they are or were a really close knit group. They protected each other, more so after the extermination order. The thought of you being around a bunch of Shinigami scares her. The Quincys of her generation were taught to stay as far away from Shinigami as they could." Isshin looked at Ichigo for a moment. "You better get dressed. If you are late we are both going to get it." He turned and left the room. Ichigo could hear him descend the stairs, each step echoing in the hall, even though Ichigo knew Isshin could move as quietly as a cat if he chose to.

Ichigo mulled over his eventful morning and what his father had said while he pulled out his school uniform to get dressed. He grimaced when he saw it. He had hated the things the first time around, and his feelings had not changed. The suit was just as horrid as he remembered it being. Grey short pants and vest over a white, short sleeve button-up shirt, and a navy blue tie.

After donning the wretched uniform, he was reminded of how uncomfortable they were as well. Ichigo made his way downstairs where everyone was waiting for breakfast. He tugged at his shorts for what seemed the hundredth time to make them seem longer and hopped up into his chair. This was ridiculous. He felt like a fool.

His mother reached over and ran her fingers through his hair trying to get it to lay flat. Ichigo knew from experience it wouldn't, so he hadn't even bothered to comb it. He still leaned into the touch though. " What's wrong with you now?" She asked trying not to laugh Ichigo's behavior.

"This is humiliating," Ichigo chewed ruthlessly on his toast. He was not in a good mood. This had officially started off as a bad day.

"From bouncing baby boy to surly teenager in literally one night," Isshin quipped. "Our darling son is all grown up."

"Ha-ha," Masaki's sarcastic laugh interrupted what would have been a retaliatory fist to Isshin's face. There was no telling what would happen if he should actually attack his father at the breakfast table with Masaki around. "Would it be too humiliating for you, if I walked you to school today?" She asked with a smile.

"No," Ichigo answered quickly jumping at the chance to spend even a little bit of time with his mother. "I would probably end up at the high school anyway if I went by myself," He added to cover for the sudden eagerness in his voice. He paused for a moment before deciding to try being diplomatic and asking first. "May I go to Urahara's after school?"

Masaki quirked an eyebrow at him not fooled at all. Isshin grunted but remained silent. In fact, Isshin had been rather subdued ever since Ichigo had been sent back into the past. Ichigo briefly entertained the thought of Masaki's death had made his father come completely unhinged.

"Alright," Masaki said finally. Ichigo blinked at her in surprised. "On one condition." Ichigo cringed knowing he was not going to like where this was going. "You have to go to school, everyday. If you miss even once, no more." He deflated at her words. He had wanted to try to spend all the time he could training. Now to train at all he would have to spend at least half that time at school. "You will also have to keep your grades up," She added.

Ichigo ducked his head and nodded. "Alright," He said in defeat. It would be better for him in the long run if he kept his home life copacetic after all.

"I will be going with you," Isshin said. "I don't trust you alone with that man."

Ichigo looked between both his parents for a moment. This was probably the best offer he was going to get. And unless he wanted to try his hand at being a real delinquent instead of the pretend one he had been, he had better accept it. "I can live with that."

2

School had gone pretty much as Ichigo had expected. Scowl firmly in place, he stormed out of the front gates of the school and thrust a piece of paper up into Isshin's face.

Isshin frowned when he saw the scowl. It looked much more annoyed than it had previously. He grabbed the paper curiously. What could have happened already? He read the note.

"What does this mean? Why did you beat up four of your class mates?" Isshin yelled jumping up and down and pulling on his hair comically. People were starting to stare. Ichigo started them walking with the intent to get them off the street before Isshin did something unforgivable.

"They were picking on me," Ichigo said shortly.

"But," Isshin searched for words. "We told you to ignore them, just last week," Isshin trailed off. Would Ichigo even remember that now?

"Tried that. It didn't work."

"Your mother is going to kill me."

"Kill__you__?" Ichigo asked confused. It seemed to him that he would be the one in trouble as soon as they got home.

"You do realize that your mother blames me completely for your bad behavior."

"Good."

"Ichigo," Isshin whined large crocodile tears in his eyes.

Before he could stop himself Ichigo smiled slightly. This was the idiot father he remembered. Somehow he felt better with his father acting like a fool. "How could she blame you for something I did anyway?"

"Well, from what I can tell, she thinks I should die first this time as I obviously don't know how to raise children."

Ichigo laughed at that.

They walked on in silence for awhile. As they drew closer to Urahara's shop, Isshin's idiot act had begun to wear thin. He was still crying and begging Ichigo be a good little boy at school for his mother's sake. The sad thing was that it would have worked if Isshin had left it at 'for his mother's sake'. In spite of how annoying Isshin was Ichigo slowed down to prolong the walk. He had to talk to his father at some point, now was as good a time as any.

"Look tou-san," he began using the address his mother insisted he use. "We both know I'm not the little boy you are familiar with." Isshin dropped his idiot act abruptly and watched his son stare at the sidewalk in front of him. "There are things that I will have to do, and no matter what it seems like, I know what I am doing."

Isshin nodded thoughtfully. "I am sorry son, this is hard to get used to. I thought we still had a few years before you became a man."

"Don't say it like that!" Ichigo yelled catching the attention of several other people on the street. His face turned bright red.

Isshin laughed at him. "You may be eighteen in your head, but you still look like my little Ichigo. Don't be surprised if you get babied."

Ichigo grumbled about crazy old men and their eccentric sense of humor. He stopped outside the shop. He looked around wondering briefly where Ururu and Jinta were. Usually one or the other, and often both were outside to greet him when he arrived.

"Are you sure you want to do this, son?" Isshin asked misinterpreting Ichigo's pause. "We can still go back home, and you can live a normal life with your mother and sisters."

"Don't tempt me, Goat-face." The switch in address did not go unnoticed by Isshin. He was sure that if he pressed the issue he could pry his son out of whatever hold Urahara had on him. "Maybe you should think about it. Give it a few days before making a decision," Isshin pressed.

Ichigo shook his head. Isshin could see the determination in his son's eyes. "I have to do this. Nothing is going to make me change my mind." With that Ichigo marched up to the door and slipped inside. He blinked his eyes trying to adjust to the dim light compared to the sunny day outside. Urahara was sitting behind the counter. He actually looked surprised to see Ichigo there.

Urahara stood as Isshin came into the shop on Ichigo's heels. "So you managed to convince your dad to let you come back."

Ichigo studied Isshin for a moment, suddenly curious. "Why did you agree all of a sudden anyway?"

Isshin looked down at his son incredulously. He really hadn't thought to wonder why? Maybe Ichigo needed closer supervision than he had originally thought. "Your mother said you were too determined to do this and would probably resort to something drastic if I our right forbid it."

"So, kaa-san told you to," Ichigo said bluntly.

"Yeah," Isshin said with a small laugh clearly embarrassed.

Ichigo thought about that for a moment. He remembered his words to his zanpakutou the night before: how he would sneak out his bedroom window if he had to. Even with a completely different personality from what Masaki was used to from her little boy, she knew him best. Ichigo felt warm and dare he say happy every time he thought about her being alive. He may not know why he was here in the past but that alone made it worth it. "She is right," He confirmed for his father.

"Eh?" Isshin said eyes wide. He had not thought his son would disobey him, especially if it were over something important.

Urahara smiled behind his fan. "I am so glad you hold me in such high regard that you would do anything to be near me," He said fluttering the fan.

Ichigo scowled at him. "Someone has to watch you."

"My my, 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer' as they say in the West, right Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichigo didn't answer, just stared at him levelly.

"So what does the wonderful Kurosaki-kun want with a humble shop keeper?" Urahara asked unperturbed by the lack of an answer.

Isshin glared at the man. "I don't like you talking to my son like that, Urahara-san."

"It's alright tou-san. That's just the way he is," Ichigo said drawing their attention back to him. "If he had to talk like a normal person, he would probably strain himself." He looked up at Urahara. "I want to use your basement to train, and I will also require a gikongan."

Urahara raised hie brow surprised at the brazenness of the boy. "And you expect these services for free?"

"Let's just call it payback for you screwing with my life," Ichigo shot back venomously.

"Hm. You seem to be at a disadvantage in your negotiations, Kurosaki-kun." Urahara came around the counter cane in hand. Ichigo tensed, ready for a fight. He knew for a fact that that was not an innocent cane. "What could you possibly do to me?" In that moment Urahara wasn't the "humble shopkeeper" but something much more sinister that Ichigo had no name for. Grey eyes seemed to pierce his soul searching for answers.

Isshin stepped in front of Ichigo prepared to defend him if necessary. He probably couldn't do much to an ex-captain who still had all of his power, but he was sure as hell going to try for Ichigo's sake.

Suddenly there were two more people in the room. Both Shiro and Ossan had materialized behind Ichigo. Only this time the hollow was holding a large white Khyber knife over his shoulder, and the Quincy had a matching trench knife drawn and ready.

"Give me a reason, Geta-boshi," Shiro practically purred, excited by the possibility of an all out fight. He was obviously hoping Urahara would push the issue.

Urahara and Isshin both sweat-dropped. Urahara was wondering if the zanpakutou spirits were powerful enough to actually kill him. Isshin was busy contemplating his son's obvious future as a Yakuza boss shaking down innocent shop keepers -not Urahara of course- with the help of his zanpakutou spirits in the place of the usual goons. He silently thanked Kami-sama that Masaki was still alive and able to prevent their little Ichigo from descending into a life of crime.

"On the other hand, Kurosaki-kun," Urahara said coming to a quick decision. He pulled back dropping the threatening stance and studied the zanpakutou spirits intently. As long as the boy was willing to bring them out he wanted to learn everything he could about them and their power. He was curious as to what such a unique blade actually did. "I would be glad to loan you my training facilities."

The hollow actually pouted when Urahara suddenly agreed. Urahara forced the smile on his face to stay in place, even though he was sweating. That thing was a little too eager to shed blood. "Fine," Ichigo said shortly.

Urahara reach behind the counter and pulled out a gikongan dispenser. He held it out to Ichigo who looked at it incredulously. It was Chappy the Rabbit. "Come on Kurosaki-kun, I thought every child your age liked Chappy," Urahara said with a smile and a wink. Ichigo just growled and snatched the dispenser. He could not wait to grow up again.

Ichigo did not wait for the two adults and made his way unerringly to the back of the shop where the trap door to the basement was located and tried not to hear Urahara laughing from somewhere behind him. Even in the past he could not get away from the man's irritating hobby of embarrassing him.

He opened the door and looked down into darkness. He climbed down wishing he could still take it in one leap, but in his younger body was not as strong as his older on had been, and he did not want to take the chance that he might break his legs if he tried. At the bottom of the ladder he stopped and look around. He spotted a relatively flat rock off to the side near the entrance and headed over to it.

Ichigo popped the gikongan into his mouth and separated from his body. He turned around to the mod soul to see it standing at attention, if bouncing slightly. He studied it carefully. If this one turned out to be sentient, he was going to have Shiro kick Urahara's ass into the next town. After studying his body for a moment taking in his painfully younger face, even he had to admit he used to be disturbingly cute.

Once Ichigo was sure that the mod soul was not going to run off with his body he addressed it. "Chappy, I need you to stay here with my dad." He pointed at Isshin who had walked up to join them. Chappy looked at Isshin and nodded. "And don't do anything Geta-boshi says," He added for good measure gesturing at Urahara. Better safe than sorry. The mod soul nodded once again giving him a double thumbs up.

"Aye sir," the annoying rabbit said saluting for good measure. Ichigo twitched at the sight of the insanely stupid smile on his own face. He nodded and walked out to the open area of the training ground.

"I'm assuming you will be practicing some katas to build up your strength?" Isshin asked curious as to what kind of instruction his son had had. He would assume Ukitake-taicho would have instructed Ichigo, or Kyouraku-taichio if he was not feeling too lazy. Both wielded dual blades of one type or another and were obvious choices for instructing a new dual blade wielder.

"Don't know any," Ichigo called back absently.

Isshin blinked in surprise. He had assumed from what his son had told him that he had been formally trained. At the very least he should know some basic katas for zanjutsu. He watched as Ichigo drew his blades. Much more smoothly than any nine-year-old should be able to. In front of him, a few meters away, the hollow half of his zanpakutou materialized once more. Only this time he was holding both white blades. Isshin got an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Interesting," Urahara said from where he had settled down cross-legged next to Isshin. He held his closed fan to his chin and seemed deep in thought. "He trains only with his zanpakutou spirit? Or is that merely where the bulk of his instruction comes from?"

"Don't you have a shop to run?" Isshin asked eyeing the shopkeeper distrustfully. "And what exactly do you mean by that?" He could not help adding. Urahara was a genius after all. Maybe he could shed some light on the young man his son had become.

"I told Tessai to take over for awhile," the blond said with a shrug. "I would not miss this for the world," He answered more earnestly ignoring Isshin's distrustful look. "And as to what I mean, there are very few reasons to not be formally instructed in zanjutsu as a Shinigami. It is completely feasible, if not likely, that your son has learned all or most of his fighting skills in the midst of battle."

Isshin frowned at that as he watched his son and Shiro face off against each other. Their stances mirror opposites. What had the future been like that he had willingly allowed Ichigo to be put in that position.

"No real duels until I can wield your monstrous blade more easily. I want to actually be able to block you before we go all out," Ichigo informed Shiro. The blade spirit sighed obviously feeling put upon.

"It's gonna be slow goin' if I 'ave ta baby ya, Aibou," Shiro threw back. The statement sounded like a challenge in and of itself.

"I'm half the size I'm supposed to be and not nearly as strong. If you use half your real strength you are going to kill me," Ichigo reasoned. "Then where would we be."

"Fine then," Shiro snapped. "Let's whip you into shape, so we can have some real fun."

Isshin winced at the thought of what the hollow would consider 'real fun'. He wondered why the other half of the zanpakutou was allowing this. Zangetsu as a whole seemed to be pitiless. He felt his whole body spasm and barely kept himself from jumping between the two as the zanpakutou spirit launched toward his son at a speed he thought was way too fast for a young boy to block.

But Ichigo did block it. Blades clashed and Ichigo was thrown backward several meters. He shook out his arms which were tingling from the impact. Pitting strength against strength the way he usually did was not going to work, Ichigo realized. He heard Shiro snort. The hollow was not impressed with his performance. Ichigo shot forward to take a swipe at Shiro's midsection. He was easily deflected with a flick of the trench knife.

It was obvious to everyone from the beginning that Ichigo had problems swinging the over-sized Khyber knife. It tended to drag behind on attacks and blocks. Even sized as it was for his smaller body it was still the size and weight of a full length sword.

Ichigo found wielding the trench knife much easier, and so attacked with it more as a result. Shiro found this set up to be offensive to his sensibilities, and being the selfish being that he was, he would smack Ichigo upside the head with his own blade every time Ichigo would attempt an attack with the trench knife.

Ichigo got fed up with this real quick and growling began to attack Shiro's knees to keep him dancing back out of his shorter range. They traded blows for about ten minutes. Ichigo was panting and sweating by the time Shiro stopped to observe him. Clearly they had their work cut out for themselves if they were going to increase Ichigo's endurance to where it had been before coming back.

"Man yer a puny little thing, ain't ya?" Shiro remarked. The hollow wasn't even slightly winded.

"Shut- up," Ichigo panted annoyed at his own weakness.

"Wonderful, Kurosaki-kun," Urahara called cheerfully. He crossed the training ground to stand in front of Ichigo. "That was a good session." He clearly thought Ichigo would be quitting for the day.

Shiro glared at the man's back. "We ain't done yet," He snapped and grabbed Urahara by the back of his haori and threw him back over to where Isshin and Ichigo's body were still sitting. Urahara flew head long toward Isshin but somehow managed to catch himself before he crashed into the ground and landed gracefully on his feet. He turned to face Shiro with a look of surprise plastered across his face. "He ain't gonna grow any stronger if I go easy on 'em." Shiro turned back to Ichigo. "Ready, Aibou?" Without waiting for an answer Shiro attacked again.

Both Isshin and Urahara were socked by the marked difference between this spar and the last. Before Ichigo had been attacking as if he were much taller. Now, he was crouched down more, lower to the ground. Shiro obviously wasn't used to attacking an opponent that was so much smaller than he was. Many of the zanpakutou spirit's attacks were too high, and he was struggling to counter a disproportionate amount of attacks aimed at his knees and ankles.

It was a complete turn around from the first bout. Isshin and Urahara blinked at each other. Neither had ever seen someone change tactics so fast. In the span of minutes Ichigo had changed his fighting style to be more suited to his new size. But his endurance did him in in the end. Shiro pulled back suddenly, just before Ichigo collapsed into the dirt breathing hard.

"Man, I suck," Ichigo said abruptly.

"Actually son, you are doing quite well," Isshin said from his place off to the side. He did not want to receive the same treatment Urahara had. He doubted he could land half as gracefully with his current level of reiatsu or lack there of. He would like to think Ichigo wouldn't let it happen, but obviously Shiro had no compunctions about causing bodily harm to anyone. Isshin also doubted the amount of control Ichigo had over the hollow. Whenever Isshin had seen him, Shiro pretty much did whatever he wanted to.

"No, it's bad," Ichigo pointed the Khyber knife at Shiro. A conscious choice of blade in the hopes that he wouldn't get smacked with the flat of the mirror blade again. "He didn't even bother to draw blood."

Isshin bit back his immediate response of horror to that in favor of keeping Ichigo's trust in him intact. But his imagination ran away from him with thoughts of blood flying everywhere and his son being ripped to shreds. He shivered. Masaki had to hear about this. Maybe she could convince Ichigo that training with his zanpakutou spirit was not the best way to improve his endurance.

During Isshin's introspection Ichigo had pulled himself to his feet. "Okay, I'm ready," he said.

"Uh, how much longer are you going to be at this?" Isshin asked snapping back to the present.

"I don't know," Ichigo answered scratching his head. "Couple of hours, maybe," He said with a shrug.

Isshin stared.

"I do have to work on my strength and endurance," Ichigo elaborated noticing his father's shock. He pointed at Shiro again. "It's a pain to have him go easy on me." With that Ichigo turned back to Shiro. Isshin shared another look with Urahara. The irony of being on the same page as the shopkeeper not lost on him.

Urahara went back to watching Ichigo fight with a thoughtful look on his face. "Kurosaki-san," he said as Ichigo collapsed into the dirt once more, unable to stand. "You can bring Ichigo-kun here as often as he wants."

Isshin frowned at him. The man was obviously up to something, but he had no clue what. "Why are you being so agreeable all of a sudden. You were ready to tell us to take a hike earlier, even though you had already promised to help him."

"I promised to work out a deal with him." Urahara pulled his hat down further to cover his eyes. Isshin peered at him anyway trying to will the man's motive to be written on his face. "Kurosaki-san, I used a very valuable object to send him back to now. I was told it would only work once. The one I showed you and your family the other day is now useless."

"But you haven't used it yet?" Isshin asked confused.

Urahara smiled. "Evidently I have. Right now I am trying to fathom why I chose to send your son back. I have, in effect, out smarted myself. I am beginning to see why everyone thinks that is one of my most annoying traits. I have no clue as to why he was so important. "

Isshin blinked, "Wait, you said you were told. You did not invent that thing yourself?"

"Nope," Urahara said with a wide smile. "In fact, I don't even understand completely how it works."

Isshin gaped in surprise.

Urahara laughed. "I am flattered by your confidence in me though, Kurosaki-san." He smiled coyly from behind his fan.

All Isshin could do was splutter indignantly as he tried to wrap his mind around this new bit of information. Urahara turned back to observing Ichigo, ignoring Isshin in favor of studying his newest puzzle.


	4. Chapter 4

1

It was a couple of more days before Ichigo made it back to the shop. Both of his parents absolutely refused to let him go alone, and they discussed Masaki going in place of Isshin, who had to run the clinic. To both Ichigo's and Zangetsu's surprise Yuzu and Karin joined Masaki and Urahara in the basement while he sparred. Such a big audience made Ichigo nervous. Ironically, Shiro was nervous as well. It turned out the zanpakutou spirit was not that good with people he was not allowed to kill.

Ichigo pushed that nervousness aside and began his work out. He needed to train his body to handle the physical and spiritual demands of his fighting style. The only down side to the process was that, for awhile at least, that would be all that he would be doing. Zangetsu and he all agreed that they should not use their abilities in front of Urahara. There was always the thought that Ichigo would one day have to fight him.

Urahara already knew the effects of hollowfication and the abilities that went with it. He could also make an educated guess about Quincy abilities. But Ichigo still thought it best to hide his true skill level. This kept the spars to the level of a strong fukutaicho. This left Ichigo frustrated on two fronts. He was stuck practicing his sword work alone, and to his chagrin he found it to be more than a challenge for him.

It was during one of the short breaks between spars that a curious Yuzu came running up to him where he sat on the ground trying to ease the burning muscles in his arms.

"Wow, Onii-chan, that was amazing," Yuzu said dropping to her knees and hugged his neck.

He smiled at her. He was actually proud of himself for pushing himself up to twelve minutes between breaks. "Thanks, Yuzu."

Karin had run over to him as well, but she was more interested in Shiro. "Who is this Ichi-nii?" She asked eyeing Shiro suspiciously. The hollow eyed her right back.

"Karin, don't be rude," Yuzu said bouncing up to Shiro. "Hello," She said politely. "I'm Ichigo's little sister, Yuzu. This is my sister Karin. We're twins."

Shiro looked at Ichigo uncertainly. He was really out of his depth when he couldn't attack someone Ichigo realized. "Zangetsu," He responded shyly looking at the ground. "Your brother's zanpakutou."

Karin stepped up next to her sister. "What's a zanpakutou?"

By this time Masaki had come over to gather up her daughters. She smiled at the two girls. "Your father would have kittens if he heard that question from you," She said hugging them both close. Both girls laughed.

"Hey, where did he go?" Karin asked suddenly pushing away from her mother's embrace. Shiro had taken the opportunity of Masaki's distraction to disappear.

_Coward. _Ichigo thought at his zanpakutou. His only response was the image of a middle finger.

Ignoring Shiro, Ichigo smile at his sisters. He looked at his mother silently asking if it were alright to tell them the truth.

Masaki nodded her head. "Well, if we are going to explain things, we will need to sit down," She said leading her children over to the flat rock Ichigo had staked out the first time he trained. Urahara sat waiting patiently on the rock not wanting a repeat of the other day.

Ichigo had left his body up stairs in the guest room when he found out his sisters would be in the training room with him. He had not wanted to confuse them or worse frighten them when he separated from his body. Chappy had been given a stern order not to leave the room. Both Ichigo and his mother agreed that the twins should not see their older brother separate from his body. He had known for sure that Karin at least would have been able to see him. What had surprised him was that Yuzu could also clearly see him and his zanpakutou.

__You are much more powerful than you were even the last time you were in the living world.__Ossan said.__Remember I am no longer holding back the majority of your power. You are affecting people much faster than the last time.__

Ichigo nodded his head absently at what his companion said. He sat and studied his sisters for a moment wondering where to start. How much could he tell them that they could understand? Ichigo privately felt that it should be his father explaining this. He looked at Urahara who returned the stare with a bland expression on his face. No help there.

"Well, the easy answer is that this," He gestured to his blades. "Is Zangetsu." Both girls looked skeptical. Karin scrunched up her face a pure disbelief etched in every line. "No really, he is," Ichigo defended himself.

"You expect us to believe that your sword turns into a person?" Karin said laughing at him.

"Not exactly," Ichigo said. "He is the blade." He tapped the Khyber knife for emphasis. "That's just his -spirit form. I guess."

Urahara grunted.

"What?" Ichigo asked annoyed. If the man wasn't going to help him explain, he had no right complaining about how he went about it.

"Nothing Kurosaki-kun. You are correct as far as that explanation goes."

Ichigo grunted this time.

Masaki smiled at her son. "You don't know much more about zanpakutou than I do, do you?" She asked.

Ichigo scratched his head. It was a habit he had picked up from somewhere; he did it when he was nervous. "I will admit to having no formal education on the subject. I learned most of what I know because I had to, but I just accepted that Shiro and Ossan are my swords."

"There's two?' Karin asked. She was very interested in the swords.

"But where did he go?" Yuzu asked at the same time.

"Your brother has a spirit for each blade," Masaki said brushing back Karin's hair.

"You have seen them both?" She asked and Masaki nodded.

"They are very shy, sweetheart," Their mother explained.

There were twin snorts in Ichigo's head at that. Ichigo offered silently to let them out to prove his mother wrong, and so they could greet his sister's properly. They both declined. __I don't believe you two are afraid of four-year-olds.__

"But where did he go?" Yuzu repeated distracting Ichigo from his zanpakutou's combined indignation.

"Um, they live in my soul. They are a part of me." Ichigo said. "You have never met them before, but they know you as well as I do."

Both girls stared at their brother. They stared for so long he was starting to wonder if they had understood what he had said.

"So," Karin said turning to Masaki. "Can I have a zanpakutou too?"

Ichigo rubbed his forehead in frustration. "I give up. Ask your father."

Masaki laughed at him.

2

Later that night the whole family was sitting at the dinner table finishing up their meal. Each child had been warned by Masaki that they could not just out right ask their father about Shinigami. "He will just put on his silly daddy act and change the subject," She had informed her children conspiratorially. "You kids just hang around after dinner. Let me handle the rest."

After dinner Isshin was surprised that as plates were cleaned no one asked to be excused as was usual. Yuzu didn't even offer to help her mother clear the table and do the dishes. His third clue that something was going on was Masaki sitting back down at his side and leaving the dirty dishes in the sink. Masaki hated having dirty dishes in the sink. Isshin smelled a trap.

"Isshin, love," Masaki began. Isshin started to sweat at her tone of voice. He knew he was not going to enjoy what was coming. "The girls had some questions today about Ichigo's zanpakutou. We, Ichigo and I, thought that it would be best for you to explain everything to the girls about Shinigami and hollows."

"But-but," Isshin whined at his wife. "We were going to wait until they were older."

Masaki raised her eyebrow. "And you didn't think they would ask why there brother was fighting a young man that looked exactly like him but completely dressed in white?"

"They can see them?" Isshin asked weakly.

"Yes dear, now tell them."

Ichigo was in awe of his mother at that moment. She was a master at Isshin herding.

"If it makes you feel any better. I know everything already," Ichigo chimed in. Having added his two cents to the conversation, he sat back to watch the show.

Isshin looked at the wide curious eyes of his two little girls. "Well girls," He began hesitantly. "Before you were born daddy was a Shinigami," Both blinked at him blankly.

"What's a Shinigami?" Yuzu asked.

"A Shinigami is a spirit who leads the souls of the dead to the after life. We also purify bad spirits called hollows, so they wont hurt anyone."

Both girls turned to Ichigo for confirmation. He nodded. "It's true."

"Right," Karin said ever the skeptic. "So Shinigami are super powered ghosts who save good ghosts from bad ghosts."

"Yes," Isshin looked relieved that at least one of his daughters understood.

Ichigo had to give credit where it was due. Isshin's bad explanation would have went well with Rukia's bad drawings that he had been subjected to.

"It sounds like an anime," Yuzu said.

"But you and Onii-chan aren't ghosts," Karin pointed out. "Are you?"

Yuzu was a bit more vocal. "Onii-chan's dead!?" She wailed. Both girls burst into tears.

Ichigo got out of his chair and pulled them into a hug. "I'm still here," He said, very carefully avoiding answering the question directly. "And I'm not going anywhere. Besides," He added, "Tou-san was a Shinigami for years, and he is still with us."

"How can a ghost even interact with a living person, anyway?" Karin asked from where she was trying to squeeze all the air out of Ichigo's lungs. "Everyone says normal people can't see ghosts."

"Mommy is hardly normal, sweetheart," Masaki answered.

"Also when I decided to stay in the living world and marry your mother, I got a very special gigai – a body- so that I could provide for my wonderful family," Isshin finished with a goofy grin on his face.

"And Ichi-nii has a gigai too?" Karin asked with wide eyes.

"Yes," Ichigo jumped in before Isshin could answer. It was much easier to just say yes. He didn't think the twins would understand the difference between him possessing his own body and a Shinigami utilizing a false body.

The the twins sniffed some more, but took to heart the assurance that they were not going to loose their brother.

Then suddenly an epiphany hit Yuzu. Everyone at the table could see her eyes light up in understanding. Her eyes widened comically and her mouth hung open. She bounced up and down in her seat excitedly. "I get it now," She said. "Mommy married a zombie!"

Masaki gaped at her daughter completely unsure of what to say to that.

"Whaaaa..." Was the only response Isshin could come up with.

"That's silly, Yuzu," Karin said taking it upon herself to be the voice of reason. "Tou-san's not stumbling around all like: 'Braaiiinsss.'" She held her arms out in front of her and did her best impersonation of a classic zombie from a horror movie.

Ichigo laughed out loud. A real laugh like he hadn't in months, probably years. The image of Isshin lurching around searching for the elusive brain was just too funny for him to hold it in. His sister's impersonation did not help the matter. His parents shared a secret smile at seeing him laugh. They could count that as a success in their efforts to help Ichigo regain some of the innocence he seemed to have lost.

"How do you meet a zombie?" Yuzu asked her mother.

"Shinigami, honey, daddy was a Shinigami," Isshin corrected weakly. He felt it was very important for his daughters to understand that he was not an undead flesh eating menace.

"You aren't a Shinigami anymore?" Karin asked.

Isshin sighed. "No, I gave up my powers as a Shinigami to be with your mother and raise three beautiful children," Isshin said throwing his arms wide to encompass everyone at the table.

Ichigo snorted. He knew a sane Isshin was too good to be true, but he had hoped that his mother would have kept Isshin sane.

It seemed that they were going to be getting the sugar coated version. Not that he blamed his parents. Karin and Yuzu were way too young to understand that their dad had had committed treason, went AWOL, and probably broke a hundred other laws in Seireitei to save mom's soul from destruction and have his little family. If he ignored his father's usual antics Ichigo could absolutely respect the man for doing what he thought was the right thing to do- from a distance.

__You are much like him, Ichigo.__Ossan said, always the one to remind Ichigo of exactly where he came from, and why he was the way he was. Ichigo had never felt closer to his father than he did upon realizing that. He had broken into both Seireitei and Los Noches to save his friends after all. He might even end up acting more like his old man one day. The thought terrified him.

"But how did you meet?" Yuzu repeated jolting Ichigo out of his thoughts. Her face was red and she was pouting. She was getting frustrated that no one would answer her question.

Isshin patted her on the head in apology. "Well, I cam to the human world to chase down a really strong hollow. I ended up getting into a bit of trouble," He said sheepishly. It wasn't his most epic battle ever.

Masaki finished the story for Isshin when it became obvious that he was stalling. "I had to save your father from the hollow."

"Mommy saved daddy from a bad spirit and lived happily ever after," Yuzu said shifting the story into more familiar territory. "It's like a fairy tale."

"No, if it were a fairy tale, daddy would have saved mommy, but mommy is too cool for that." Karin argued.

"Exactly," Masaki said a touch smugly. She was more than ready to end the story there. She doubted her children were ready to know that she would have died because of that hollow if Isshin had not come back from Seireitei to thank her. Ichigo was very unimpressed with their little story as well. He at least knew the truth. Masaki excused the twins from the table and had them drag off Isshin to play so that she could talk to him.

"Ichigo?"

"Yes, I know the whole story," He said immediately. "Dad told me when I had to have my zanpakutou reforged. I know that you are a Quincy, and somehow so am I."

Masaki was very surprised by that revelation. What kind of Quincy carried a zanpakutou anyway. "You can use Quincy skills?" She asked curious of the answer.

"The only Quincy skill that I have used is Blut Vene," Masaki smirked at that. Blut Vene was her specialty after all. "It was an accident. I didn't even notice I was doing it at the time, but now I know I can learn. Ossan can't wait to teach me."

Masaki hugged her son. "It would make me very proud to have you learn the Quincy Arts," She said. "But not until your homework is done."

Ichigo groaned. "None of that now," Masaki said standing. "You have to keep your grades up. And don't think I wont be checking your work young man."

Ichigo trudged up stairs dragging his feet the whole way. So what if he was over acting the angst a bit?

3

Later that evening Ichigo sat on the floor of his room and entered his inner world. He had finished his homework and passed his mother's inspection. He had tried to explain that it was not the work itself that was his issue with school. Even though he was bored the entire time he was in class. Bored he could handle; bored was a vacation. It was the prospect of loosing his temper around children who did not know any better when they antagonized him. In his experience the fights were inevitable. But for some reason his mother did not know about the fight he had already had. It seemed Isshin had chosen to keep that to himself. Ichigo assumed Isshin would be the one to go to the parent teach conference also.

He opened his eyes to see a vista of sideways skyscrapers and scanned the area for Ossan. The zanpakutou spirit was predictably perched on a nearby flag pole studying him. Having found Ossan, Ichigo continued to scan for Shiro. He did not feel like being surprised tonight.

"I have asked my counter part to leave us alone for the duration of your training," Ossan said. He leaped off of the flag pole to stand in front of Ichigo. "Learning how to manipulate reishi as a Quincy takes concentration. The hollow has proven to be a distraction in the past."

"It is hard to concentrate when someone is trying to kill you," Ichigo conceded. "But I do work best under pressure. Are you going to teach me like that?"

Ossan thought about that for a moment. " Unfortunately that method will not work well for learning Quincy skills. Shiro can use your instincts under pressure to drive you past your current power limits. Quincy's do not work that way. All of our skills are at first counter-intuitive in their use. I am afraid you will have to learn the hard way."

"What about when I used Blut Vene? I did not even know what it was when I first used it."

"True Blood Quincy can use Blut instinctively, true. But that is all. The closer you are to the source of the Quincy powers the more those powers will want to protect you. For everyone else Blut is a learned skill."

Ichigo frowned in thought. "But I am not a true Quincy," He said confused. "I am a Shinigami and also a hollow."

Ossan shrugged. He seemed to be as stumped by that one as Ichigo was. "It may be because Quincy's are a living race and Shinigami are not," He allowed. "There has never been a child from a Shinigami/Quincy union before." He shook his head as if to clear it. "But speculating on the origins of your abilities is not why we are here."

Ichigo sat down on the window beneath him. For some reason he suspected that this was not going to be an overly active lesson. "So what do I do first?"

"First, I would say that you have to learn reiatsu sensing, but we do not have time for that. To disable the Hougyoku you will be using the spirit ribbons. We know that you can find that at least."

Ichigo's face dropped in consternation. "We have our work cut out for us don't we?"

"Yes."

After a moment of silence Ichigo glared at Ossan. " Thanks for the confidence boost. What do I do?"

"Keeping our original goal of destroying the Hougyoku in mind, I will be teaching you how to do that specifically. We will expand on that later." He crossed his arms. "First, you need to find my spirit ribbon. This will make it easier on you in the long run and cut out the finer points of reiatsu sensing that could take decades for you to master."

Ichigo snorted, but concentrated until he felt a spirit ribbon brush the back of his hand. "At least I am good at this part. You think the Hougyoku will have a ribbon?"

"If it has a reiryoku signature, it has a ribbon," Ossan said. "It is only a matter of finding it. Good, now draw a little bit of reiryoku through the ribbon and into yourself."

Ichigo pulled at the reiryoku that he could sense through the ribbon. He knew almost immediately that he had pulled too much. The ribbon flared so brightly he thought that it would turn to ash. What did happen was much more traumatic. He lost control over the flow of the reiryoku and his whole inner world flashed white for a moment. Ichigo blinked spots from his eyes. Ossan stood calmly, his usual tinted glasses were completely black.

Ichigo scowled. "A warning would have been nice," He grumbled. He looked around to see if there was any lasting damage to his inner world. Finding none he turned back to Ossan. "What happened? Should I try again?"

"It is what I expected to happen." Ichigo's scowl deepened at the cryptic answer. "That was a success."

Ichigo blinked. "I did that right?"

"Yes," Ossan answered with a faint smile. Ichigo felt proud of him self for earning that rare smile. "The bright flash was my energy merging with yours. You took too much, but you executed the technique correctly. That is the first step in utilizing reishi."

"How does that even work if your reiryoku is my reiryoku?" Ichigo asked.

"A Shinigami's power splits to form their zanpakutou. What you did was take some back."

"Are you okay?" Ichigo asked concerned.

"I am part of you. Any reiryoku you take from me will be replenished from your own given enough time. That is why I had you start with me. If you had accidentally drained me I could be able to pull myself back together given time," Ossan admitted.

"I could kill someone doing that couldn't I?" Ichigo asked pale.

"Yes, you can. It is important that if you are to draw any significant amount of energy you stick to reishi," He paused for a moment considering Ichigo. The boy was about to learn exactly why the Shinigami had worked so hard to try to destroy the Quincy. "Or you could absorb the reishi of your opponents and make it your own."

Ichigo started in realization. "Like when Quincy's kill hollows?" He hugged his knees. He did not want to admit, not even to himself, but this ability scared him more than the thought of loosing himself to his hollow did. He could literally kill a soul by draining it's energy. "Were the Shinigami right to kill the Quincy?" He asked. "If they can do that..."

"Most Quincys only need a small portion of one soul to recharge their reserves. The problem lies in breaking the original pattern of the reiryoku. A soul cannot reform in the Soul Society if part of it is missing. There are currently only two Quincys that can do this on a large scale. One is Yhwach; the other is you. It is impossible for any other Quincy to drain even one soul as the amount they need for their weapons is minuscule in comparison to a Shinigami. Taking more would make the Quincy's soul explode from over loading their own soul. They do always take some though. As to not do so disrupts the whole process and they themselves could die. The absorption is automatic."

Ichigo chewed on his lip. Based on what his zanpakutou said the Shinigami tried to exterminate a whole race based on what a select few could do. "They always told me that a soul killed by a Quincy arrow was destroyed."

"In effect it is," Ossan said. He could not sugar coat this subject. The essence of being a Quincy was control for a reason. Loosing that control had dire consequences. "Once a Quincy takes even a bit of that soul into themselves the pattern that soul took is gone."

"So it's not really destroyed?"

"It is no longer a soul," Ossan said bluntly. "The conservation laws you learn in school do apply to reishi and reiryoku." He studied his wielder. "Did the Shinigami choose correctly?" He asked throwing the question Ichigo had asked him back at him. It would be helpful to know whether Ichigo could fully accept his Quincy power. Even if he had already accepted Ossan himself it did not mean he accepted or even knew all of the abilities. Indeed he had fully accepted the original Zangetsu without knowing it was the hollow he battled every day.

"No," Ichigo said quietly.

"Why?"

Ichigo shrugged. "I don't know." He searched for words that would not come.


	5. Chapter 5

1

Shunpo behind your opponent into his natural blind spot. Ichigo went through the motions almost lazily. Reverse grip on trench knife, backwards jab to puncture through back of torso and turn into the knife. Swing Khyber knife and decapitate.

Ichigo watched clinically as the low level hollow disintegrated before him. It was far too easy for him now. After all he had been through, and all the evolution his powers had gone through, the low level hollows that haunted the human world were way too weak to be a challenge for him. He could in fact kill any of them just by raising his reiatsu. He had begun to practice more complicated maneuvers on the low level hollows just to make things interesting.

He looked around the park, one of his favorite hunting grounds. The swings were empty even in the after noon and a peaceful quiet seemed to permeate the air. Ichigo sighed. He was bored out of his mind. He wanted to rip his hair out in frustration. He wanted to go to Seireitei and kill Aizen just to get it over with.

It had been two years since he had woken up in the past. Two years of training. Physically he was eleven now and even with the still smaller physique, Ichigo could now wield his blades almost as easily as he ever had in his past. The atrophy of his spiritual powers had finally worked out. Ossan commented often that Ichigo was better than he had ever been simply for having the time to train before the next big disaster. Ichigo pointed out that it was a waste of time considering if he went after Aizen now the traitorous Shinigami would be far below his power level.

Within one month of coming to the past he had convinced his parents to let him take up hollow hunting as a hobby. The hollow that he had killed in their own back yard had help tremendously in getting his point across. But even with the distraction that last two years of relative peace had been grating on his nerves. It had reminded him too much of the time he had spent powerless. It irked him that there was nothing at the moment that he could do to further his goals.

A large part of his frustration, Ichigo would admit, stemmed from learning the Quincy techniques. It was the first time since trying and subsequently aborting learning kidou that a new skill did not come easily to him. After his first success with Ossan he had begun working on keeping Ossan's power signature separate from his own while he was drawing on it. This proved near impossible. It was much like trying to stop a tsunami with his bare hands. It had taken him ages just to pry the two apart again, and then he had to hold them separate. Ichigo was pretty sure he had sprained his brain at some point in his training.

"You are getting very good at dispatching hollows, Ichigo-kun," The mild voice of Urahara Kisuke pulled him from this musings.

"This guy was nothing," Ichigo said casually. Two years of dealing with Urahara had done wonders for his patience as well. The man was as cagey as ever, always asking questions. He never seemed to miss a training session with Shiro, and he shadowed Ichigo while he was out hollow hunting as well. In short, Urahara had become Ichigo's own personal stalker.

Other than that, the two of them had worked out a sort of not quite friendship that seemed to work just to spite them both. If Urahara was overly curious at times or made the odd and disturbingly correct analysis of Ichigo's abilities, it was never confirmed. If Ichigo got frustrated and insulted or threatened Urahara, the man did not comment on that either.

Urahara tipped his hat in reply. A mysterious smile spread across his face. "The Shinigami assigned to Karakura is headed this way," He said with a faraway look on his face. He tapped his closed fan against his chin. An annoying habit that made Ichigo want to snatch the damn thing and shred it. "He seems to be getting rather lazy since you are taking so many of his assignments. He no longer makes it a point to be punctual. It is bad form. If he tried a bit harder, he could catch a rouge Shinigami after all."

Ichigo sheathed his blades and fell into step beside Urahara and nodded in agreement. Low level Shinigami were so... human sometimes and lazy.

It was starting to get late, but he thought that now would be a good time to bring up the Hougyoku. Ichigo had been receiving mental instructions on how to handle this subject for the past week. Ever since Ossan had deemed him proficient at manipulating reishi.

Ichigo had learned that when finesse was called for it was best to listen to his inner Quincy. Kami, he hoped Ishida never found out about that; the other boy would be completely insufferable if he knew.

"Geta-boshi," Ichigo began as they walked along to the shoten. He ignored his zanpakutou's insistence that the address Urahara properly on the grounds that it would tip him off that something was up. Ichigo had come to the conclusion long ago that the less time you gave Urahara to analyze a situation the more success you had at getting what you wanted. "I need to talk to you about something."

Urahara raised his eyebrows. Ichigo had never professed any need for his insight before. "Oh?" He was very curious now. Usually when he accompanied the boy on hollow hunts he was ignored.

"There are somethings I need to prevent from happening. I need your help to do that," Ichigo said looking like he had just swallowed a lemon. Urahara's help was too eccentric for his taste, but damn if it didn't work.

"And risk distorting the time line?" Urahara asked, having read up on every time traveling theory science fiction had to offer. Real data was, needless to say, in short supply.

"Oh, the time line was smashed to bits when my mother lived," Ichigo said shrugging. He really didn't care if the future turned out different as long as the people he cared for were safe. Just saving his mother made the trip back worth it.

"I see," Urahara said quietly. But Ichigo had been way too tight lipped for Urahara's liking for a very long time. He wasn't fool enough to make it easy for Ichigo. Urahara continued more stridently. "I would love to impart my wisdom on the next generation, Ichigo-kun, but my initial condition still stands. I know so little about you and your experiences..."

"I'm sure you have figured out enough," Ichigo said crisply immediately going on the defensive.

"You wont get anything out of me unless you share your version of the future with me," Urahara said with an air of finality. Ichigo glanced at him. It was one of the few times he had ever heard Urahara being so serious. Perhaps it was time to let him know somethings about what was going to happen.

They made it to the shoten, and Urahara walked in ahead of Ichigo without waiting. Ichigo followed him inside. He nodded at Tessai who returned the nod briefly. Ichigo had no idea how the man felt about the strange mentor/student relationship Ichigo had developed with his boss; it was even stranger than it had been the first time around. Though Tessai seemed to accept everything and backed Urahara one hundred percent no matter the situation.

"I am willing to tell you about some of it," Ichigo huffed as soon as the door was closed securely behind him. Now he had Urahara's undivided attention. The man pivoted around to loom over Ichigo waiting as patiently as he could manage for the boy to start talking. "But I want one thing in return," Ichigo said trying not to back away from the gleam in Urahara's eyes.

"Oh?" The blond man said pulling his hat low and affecting a sinister air. This had better be some good information if Ichigo wanted his help.

"Let me destroy the Hougyoku," Ichigo said staring Urahara directly in the eyes.

Urahara dropped his fan. It clattered loudly on the floor. He pulled his hat down over his eyes to hide the anger and indignation there. But Ichigo saw clearly the hard line his mouth had formed. This was a touchy subject for the shopkeeper. Ichigo knew that, but he also knew that it was something that the shopkeeper was going to have to face. Ichigo wasn't about to let him run away from this one.

"I have been trying to destroy the Hougyoku for over one hundred years," Urahara said in a low rough voice. "What makes you think that a young man like yourself can succeed where I have failed?"

Ichigo touched his zanpakutou gently before replying. "The unique push and pull of my reiryoku gives me some unique abilities," He said evenly. He was only repeating what Ossan had told him. He did not really understand what that meant beyond hollow push, Quincy pull. It sounded horribly zen to him.

Urahara studied him. "Unique abilities, huh," He said very thoughtful for a moment. "I could give you the chance. If I find the information you give me useful or interesting enough. What would you be exchanging for the privilege?"

"Don't you want to know how I know about the Hougyoku at all?" Ichigo said with a teasing smile. "It was what Aizen needed to complete his plans, after all," He frowned at Urahara. "And I think you wanted him to have it."

Urahara missed the accusation. He could not believe what had said Ichigo said. Had this boy perhaps been the one to defeat Aizen once he got out of hand? He licked his lips. He could see decades worth of carefully laid plans within plans being unraveled by the errant time traveler. Urahara could not for the life of him figure out why his future self had chosen to send this boy back in time. He seemed to be much too much trouble for the reward.

"You are going to have to give me more than that, Ichigo-kun," Urahara said trying to act nonchalant even as he saw himself in his mind's eye grabbing the boy by the shoulders and shaking the information out of him if necessary.

"Alright," Ichigo said shrugging. He was completely missing the gravity of the situation as far as Urahara was concerned. In reality, Ichigo had no problem telling Urahara what he wanted to know if it meant he could prevent the Winter War all together. "I will tell you about the part the Hougyoku played in Aizen's plans and the Winter War."

"I suppose that will do," Urahara said trying not to grin. He was finally going to get some clue as to what had previously happened in the future. Urahara ran through that thought again and tried to decided if it made sense. He decided it would work and turned his attention back to Ichigo who was getting impatient with his wandering attention. "But you must promise not to use the Hougyoku for yourself."

Ichigo snorted. That would be easy. "I don't need it."

"Don't need it?" Urahara asked intrigued. That much power was difficult to pass up after all.

"You have seen my zanpakutou spirits," Ichigo said. "I don't need it to break down the barrier between hollow and Shinigami. It's a moot point when your zanpakutou is half hollow and half Quincy. I definitely don't need it for more power."

"Good point. So it is safe to assume that you can use a hollow's powers, like say cero?" Urahara asked slyly.

"I'm sure it's possible," Ichigo hedged. He had never, after all, consciously used cero. "Quit fishing for information on my abilities and give me the Hax Marble of Doom." Ichigo rubbed his eyes in frustration. He had a low threshold for verbal sparing as it was, and Urahara could reach it without even trying.

Ossan grumbled about his insensitivity.__Quiet you. It's not like I could actually win a battle of wits with him anyway.__

__But Urahara finds such things entertaining. It would not hurt you to stroke his ego a bit.__Ossan argued.

__He'll live without it,__Ichigo said with certainty. He wasn't even sure what it would take to actually kill Urahara.

While Ichigo was chastising Ossan. Urahara was having his own mental battle. His eye twitched. "Hax. Marble. Of. Doom." He said oblivious of Ichigo's inner arguments. The boy really did have the most disrespectful way of speaking.

__You should not push him, Ichigo.__Ossan said catching on long before Ichigo realized his mistake. __There is much he will over look in your behavior, that is the kind of man he is, but it is not wise to belittle his creations. They are wondrous in their own right, especially the Hougyoku.__

Ichigo studied Urahara for a moment and realized that the older man was biting the inside of his cheek and gripping Benihime tight enough for wood to creak. "Eh..." Ichigo trailed off. He really wasn't good at apologizing, but it was obvious that this situation called for one. "Sorry about that." He said lamely.

Urahara jerked out of his own musings. And his eyes sharpened "Kurosaki-kun."

Ichigo winced. It was never a good sign when Urahara used his family name.

Urahara disappeared from view. It was a testament to his anger that he was no longer acting as the humble shopkeeper and had used shunpo.

Ichigo stared at the spot where Urahara had stood and took a shaky breath. As fun as it was to rile the man up, he had never seen Urahara that mad. He had to remember that Urahara was an ex-captain of the Gotei 13 no matter how silly he seemed most of the time. He really was an enemy Ichigo did not need at the moment.

Tessai took the opportunity while Urahara was gone to have his say on the matter. "The boss is being very accommodating for you. He does not just let anyone into his house and private training grounds. You should be more grateful."

Ichigo chewed on his lower lip. Both Ossan and Tessai, the two most even tempered men he knew, reprimanding him really did make him feel like a heel. The truth was he still did not know how to treat Urahara. The man drove him nuts. And while he did enjoy having the upper hand in their interactions for once, he knew that it could turn on him in an instant.

He still did not know if he could even trust Urahara. All he knew for sure was that Urahara had never meant him direct harm. That much he did believe. The man playing with his soul like it was silly putty not withstanding.

"I really am sorry," Ichigo said aloud as Urahara walked up gray haori swishing angrily behind him like a cat's tail.

"Apology accepted," Urahara said graciously after a moment, if a bit condescendingly. He held out the Hougyoku for inspection. It glowed faintly but otherwise looked like an innocuous black marble. "Here it is. I am also interested in how you plan to destroy it." It was a demand. There was no disguising that. It looked like Ichigo would be giving away more of his abilities tonight after all.

Ichigo scratched his head. Why was that even important as long as the Hougyoku wasn't there to cause problems anymore. "I'm going to drain it of it's power."

"How?" Urahara asked eyes wide and unbelieving. He forgot for a moment to be mad at the boy standing in front of him.

"It's a Quincy thing..." Ichigo trailed off not sure he should tell Urahara about his ability to absorb souls. "I'm going to drain the power and expel it."

Urahara sighed. "Interesting, but why are you so dead set on destroying it? It could be useful later after all."

Ichigo personally thought that getting rid of a powerful object that was coveted by a megalomaniac was just common sense, but he decided to go for the more diplomatic explanation. He had already pissed Urahara off once in this conversation.

"Aizen had his own Hougyoku, also incomplete." Urahara nodded well aware of that fact. "He stole your Hougyoku and fused yours with his to make a complete Hougyoku."

Urahara frowned. "It sounds good in theory, but there is no data supporting the notion that either one is even half complete. Was this the only solution he had?"

"The only one I know of," Ichigo said studying the man.

"What did he end up doing with it?" Urahara asked. "Did it actually work?"

"Well he used his first to give hollows Shinigami powers. A reverse of what he did to the Visoreds." Urahara reacted to his mention of the Visoreds so strongly that Benihime scraped across the floor leaving a scuff mark on the wood. Ichigo paused to let him collect himself before continuing. "They were called Arrancar. But after he fused the two Hougyoku he implanted it into his own body. Aizen wanted to become a transcendental being."

Urahara blinked. He was very uneasy with that revelation. This may be more his fault than he had originally thought, "It is safe to assume then that his goal was to usurp the Soul King."

Ichigo nodded. "He was going to sacrifice everyone in Karakura to make the Ouken."

"I take it he did not succeed."

"We stopped him."

"We?"

"You and I."

"Just the two of us?" Urahara said as if to himself. Ichigo did not say anything in reply. "If he did fuse himself with the Hougyoku it should have made him immortal."

"He did survive to be sentenced to the Muken." Ichigo said with a shrug. "He would have died several times if not for the Hougyoku. Several people took a shot at him. Immortality was the only reason he lived each time. The Hougyoku would force him to evolve every time he would have died."

"How exactly was he defeated?"

Ichigo licked his lips. There was so much about his own abilities he would rather Urahara did not know. The biggest of which was that he could and would sacrifice all of them if the need arose. "I became more powerful than him." Urahara looked skeptical at that. "And I had a lot of help. I was the one who distracted him while you cast a bakudou capable of holding him."

Urahara contemplated Ichigo's words. Ichigo could tell that Urahara knew he wasn't telling him everything. "Tell me about his evolutions." Urahara said suddenly.

"They got really weird," Ichigo said face scrunched up at the memory of the monster Aizen had become. "First he got more powerful. He sprouted butterfly wings at one point. After that he evolved into a giant hollow butterfly with six extra heads and three hollow holes."

"Three hollow holes," Urahara repeated to himself. Ichigo could hardly believe that he did not react to the butterfly thing. "I am not sure I know a bakudou that could hold such a being." He said slyly.

"Like I said: I was stronger. But he didn't loose because of it," Ichigo shuffled his feet.

"Why do you think he lost in the end?"

That was the million dollar question wasn't it. Aizen had been powerful enough in the beginning to defeat them all. "He lost himself," Ichigo said nodding definitively. "Everyone told me that Aizen was a master tactician. I honestly think they were trying to scare me. They said he could read his opponents in an instant. He laid this plan over the span of decades and had all the senior officers of the Gotei 13 under the spell of Kyouka Suigetsu. He would have won easily if he had been the tactician they said he was at that point."

Urahara nodded in agreement knowing all of that to be true. He had taught Aizen after all.

"But in the end he could not read me," Urahara snorted at Ichigo's words. "He didn't even notice I was more powerful than he was. He even gloated that one of his strikes had decimated a mountain." Here Ichigo blushed. He had not meant to rearrange the landscape. "I did that on accident when I blocked one of his attacks. But in the end, I think that he lost because he didn't really want to be a god; he didn't want to be alone."

Urahara thought about that. The boy obviously had an obscene amount of power even if he was trying to hide it: badly. The hollow zanpakutou's, Shiro's, threats towards him seemed all the more real all of a sudden. Zanpakutou may not be able to force their wielders to do anything, but they had an amazing amount of leverage over them once trust was established. Zangetsu could in fact convince Ichigo to pull a stunt like Aizen did in Ichigo's probable future. It had happened before. One of the success stories was Genryuusai Shigekuni Yamamoto himself and the formation of the Gotei 13. How much would their world be changed by this boy's influence?

Urahara's musings moved to Aizen himself, leaving that question for when he had more information. Power had turned the man he had known into a monster in Ichigo's future. Urahara could already see the signs now, and, if he admitted to it, he had been ignoring those same signs for years. The Visored were a glaring sign in themselves. He was brought back to the present by Ichigo's fidgeting.

"Aizen never put you under the spell of Kyoka Suigetsu?" Urahara asked. It was a glaring hole in the story. It would also have been the first thing he himself would have done. Since, in the end, Ichigo had been the only one able to match Aizen."

Ichigo was real uncomfortable now. His own disregard of and fights with Zangetsu made him sensitive to the same discord in others. What had happened to Kyoka Suigetsu made him ill to even think about. "Aizen was too far gone to use Kyoka Suigetsu by the time when he would have thought it necessary. For a long time I was too far below him in power to be an actual threat. The one time I came real close to killing him his zanpakutou disintegrated. His only reaction was to say that the Hougyoku deemed that he did not need a zanpakutou any longer.

Urahara choked on that revelation. To shrug off an integral part of your soul... His hands caressed Benihime soothing the both of them. "So it did break him in the end." He said to no one.

Ichigo wondered what the hell Urahara was talking about, but wasn't in any mood to continue the conversation. "So anyway," he said breaking into Urahara's contemplation once more. He also desperately wanted to stop thinking about his final fight with Aizen. It wouldn't happen this time; he promised himself. "I need a favor."

Urahara smiled, game to move along to less disturbing topics. "Now you ask for a favor," He said playfully.

"Well, I could just destroy this here," Ichigo said waving the had holding the Hougyoku toward the back of the shop and the basement training grounds. "The training grounds are nice and big, but I would take it out along with the block above it."

"My my, you can do that?" The man's interest was obvious. Ichigo scowled. He hated it when he inadvertently gave Urahara information that he had not meant to.

"With this," He held up the Hougyoku again. "you bet I could."

"You expect so much destruction draining it as you said?" Urahara asked alarmed. Maybe handing over the Hougyoku wasn't such a good idea, the man thought pushing back his hat far enough to scratch his head.

"All that energy has to go somewhere," Ichigo pointed out.

Urahara laughed nervously. "Putting it into a power draining gigai as I had intended to do would accomplish much the same thing, with less explosions."

"Sure, but my way has less of a chance of the Hougyoku ending up in the hands of a megalomaniac. Besides if you really wanted to make sure the Hougyoku was gone for good you would be in that gigai yourself." Ichigo said voice laced with venom. He still wasn't too happy about Urahara using Rukia to fix his own mistakes, be it this one or the old one.

"I see," Urahara said with a slump to his shoulders. "My mistake. But I have never been self-sacrificing, Ichigo-kun."

"Of course not," Ichigo huffed. He rolled the Hougyoku between his palms. Such a silly little thing to hold so much power. "I need a place where I can discharge a massive amount of energy without anyone close enough to catch me doing it."

"You want me to send you to Hueco Mundo?" Urahara asked. _It is scary how fast he catches on sometimes_, Ichigo thought.

"I know you can, but no," Ichigo continued to play with the Hougyoku. "I don't want to be stuck there where Aizen has a base and all of the strongest hollows live. I would be instantly discovered and/or eaten. I was actually thinking the outer districts of Rukongai."

"Soul Society, hmm?" Urahara said looking thoughtful.

"You know as well as I do that they don't monitor the outer districts as well as they should," Ichigo said.

"Or at all," Urahara said with a smile. "So a Senkaimon that is untraceable. You don't ask for much do you? Would you like to come home as well?" Urahara cocked his head to the side as if he didn't already know the answer.

Ichigo glared at the man. Urahara and Kurotsuchi were way too much alike. Even if Urahara was far more subtle about threats.

"Don't worry Ichigo-kun, I will bring you back free of charge," Urahara said happily.

"Thanks," Ichigo said not really sure he actually was thankful yet. "How long will this take?"

It will take me a couple of days to put together an untraceable Senkaimon'" Urahara replied. "Now, it's getting late. Let's get you home before your mother assumes the worst and comes after me."

Ichigo ended up leaving the Hougyoku with Urahara that night. He felt no need to have it close to him. It had already been in Urahara's hands for over a century. One more night would not hurt. Oddly enough, the shopkeeper was completely trustworthy when it came to powerful technologies. Ichigo was sure that if Urahara had not made the Hougyoku himself he would have more fun experimenting on it than trying to take over the world with it.

Ichigo walked though his front door half expecting a fist or a roundhouse kick to the face even after two years of coming home largely unassaulted by his father. There had been that one time he had been almost tickled to death upon arriving home, but Ichigo preferred not to think about that or admit it had happened. Smells of home cooking wafted toward him and made his mouth water. His mother was in the kitchen preparing dinner while Isshin, Karin and Yuzu watched some inane game show on TV.

Ichigo sat at the kitchen table pointedly refusing to acknowledge the TV show. Masaki stopped stirring dinner long enough to walk over and drop a kiss on the top of his head.

Unlike most boys his physical age, Ichigo never complained about open displays of affection from his mother. One the contrary, he tended to soak up the attention like a sponge, and if that meant more beatings for those who made fun of him at school for his daily goodbye ritual of a hug and a kiss, so be it.

"Did you manage to get your homework done while at the shoten?" Masaki asked casually picking up the spoon and stirring dinner.

Ichigo tensed. This was the only thing he and his mother disagreed on.

"Er, I did not have the time," He mumbled vaguely.

Upon hearing this his mother slammed the spoon down on the counter and stood over Ichigo with her hands on her hips. The rest of the family turned their attention from the TV to peek over the back of the couch. The mother son drama was always far more entertaining than a mere game show.

"You need to make the time," Masaki growled shoving her face up close to her son's. Ichigo leaned back in response. Masaki had learned early that the more aggressive she was with the new Ichigo about making her point, the more he seemed to listen. One one level it disturbed her a great deal to have to be so aggressive with her own son. On all other levels though anything she could use to get through Ichigo's thick skull was a godsend. He was such a stubborn young man and far too set in his ways for even an eighteen year old.

The most bewildering thing about it was that when she mentioned her concerns to Isshin he laughed it off. Isshin saw nothing wrong with being a little aggressive with Ichigo. "It just means he is a true Shiba," Isshin said. "All of my family's most potent teaching moments are preceded and followed by a sound ass kicking." Masaki had been very skeptical at first, but this time her husband was actually right.

"But mo~m," Ichigo whined. "I've got to train."

"You can spare some time to do your homework," Masaki said completely unmoved by Ichigo's attempt at puppy dog eyes. The boy couldn't do innocent to save his life. "After dinner you are going to sit right there until your homework is done young man. Or you will not be going to Urahara-san's for the next week."

Ichigo groaned and smacked his head into the table.


	6. Chapter 6

1

Two days later Ichigo was walking to Urahara's once more after school, but his mind was less on his trip to the Soul Society than it was on the parent teach conference he had just escaped from. Although he usually made this trip alone, since Urahara had proved to have no intentions of hurting Ichigo, today his mother was walking next to him. Ichigo kept superstitiously glancing at Masaki as her heels clicked definitively on the sidewalk next to him. He knew well that this could be his last sanctioned trip to the shoten.

"You know I shouldn't let you continue with this," Masaki said suddenly staring strait ahead at the street.

Ichigo hunched his shoulders and glowered at the sidewalk. Here it was the dreaded ban from Urahara's. He could just feel it.

"And here I thought you were doing so well in school," She continued woodenly.

"I am," Ichigo spoke up trying to defend himself. "I'm at the top of my class." Though his current situation had nothing to do with his grades.

Ichigo had gotten into another fight at school. A group of junior high students got it into their heads that they should beat up the elementary school kid that that had beat up so and so's little brother. Ichigo couldn't be bothered to remember the details, though the group leader had made it a point to monologue for everyone just why he was going to get the shit beat out of him. The fight hadn't even lasted that long. Ichigo had only actually put two of them down before the others started running. It was no big deal from his point of view. The real problem had started when his teacher had called the clinic afterward and Masaki had answered while Isshin was with a patient. Since Isshin had been fielding the calls from the school since they had started both Masaki and the teacher were surprised by the situation.

After his classes had ended for the day, Ichigo's teach had made him stay. When his mother had come in and greeted his teacher Ichigo had nearly swallowed his tongue. He knew good and well Isshin had not been telling his wife about the fights Ichigo regularly finished, even if someone else started them.

At first, and much to his surprise, everything seemed to be going well. Masaki was appalled that the older boys would single out her son. It wasn't until they were getting ready to leave when his teacher mentioned that she was concerned about Ichigo's violent retaliation toward bullies and asked if she thought the talks his father was giving him about telling the teacher when he was being bullied instead of beating up the bullies were doing any good at all.

"Fights?" Masaki had asked confused. She had thought that this was the first one. It had taken another whole hour to go through Ichigo's record with Masaki getting angrier by the minute.

As they continued on the way to Urahara's Masaki broke the silence. "You act as if this is nothing out of the ordinary. How often do you get into fights in the future?"

Ichigo shrugged. He had no reason to lie to her now. "Before? Once or twice a week." Masaki winced at his answer. "Less now, but that could change in Junior High. I never went looking for fights," He said defending his actions. "With the way I look and the fact that I had a reputation for winning, more and more idiots assumed they could get street cred for taking me down." Ichigo shrugged. "I just wanted to be left alone."

"And this is why you never want to go to school?" Masaki asked.

Ichigo nodded. Damn, but this sidewalk was interesting.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Hey look a crack. "I didn't want to worry you," He mumbled. "And I didn't want you to think that that was who I am." He paused for a moment to wrestle with his morals and then threw Isshin under the bus anyway. "I also assumed dad would tell you if you really needed to know."

Masaki's eyes flashed at the reminder of Ichigo's co-conspirator. "That man definitely has some explaining to do."

Ichigo smiled wanly as he stepped into Urahara Shoten. Urahara himself was sitting at the counter for once. He took in the hunched shoulders and look of consternation of Ichigo's face. Masaki stood behind him with her hand resting lightly on his shoulder, but a deep line marred her smooth forehead. Urahara had the nerve to giggle.

"My my, Kurosaki-san, what brings you here today?" Pretending to know nothing. In fact he was preparing to fight to keep his "student".

"Not you if that is what you are thinking," Masaki said running her hand through her hair. "Ichigo got into a fight at school today."

"Oh again? So violent Ichigo-kun," Urahara said fluttering his fan in front of his face. The fluttering slowed to a stop when he realized he had said something amiss.

Masaki was giving him an askance look. "Was I the only one who did not know about the fights?"

"Oh my," was the shopkeeper's only answer. "You should tell your lovely mother these things, Ichigo-kun."

"Shut it, Geta-boshi."

Masaki automatically smacked her son on the back of the head. "Be polite, Ichigo."

"Kaa-san, it's Urahara," Ichigo protested.

Masaki paused for a moment. She really didn't like the man. "It's Urahara-san," She corrected finally.

"Oh, it is no problem Kurosaki-san. That's just how Ichigo-kun shows he cares," He sing-song-ed. Ichigo's eye twitched as the maddening man called to the back. "Tessai, would you please watch the shop. Ichigo-kun is here."

"Yes boss," The big man said taking up the position behind the counter.

"Will you be staying today as well, Kurosaki-san?" Urahara asked as he headed into the private area of the shop. Ichigo held his breath waiting for the answer. He really did not want to fight with his mother over going to the Soul Society.

"No. I need to get back home to the twins," Masaki said. She leaned down and kissed her son on the cheek. "You be good. We will be discussing your little penchant for fighting later, after I speak with your father." Ichigo winced at the tone she used when she said 'your father'. Isshin was in so much trouble. After a quick "Goodbye Urahara-san." Masaki left on a war path.

Urahara stood next to Ichigo and watched her slam the door behind her. "Your father is going to regret not telling her about the fights." Ichigo nodded wordlessly. "This could become a problem."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it would be hard for you to train if you are perpetually grounded," The shopkeeper said blandly.

Ichigo blinked at him.

"I assume that you did not tell your mother about your little trip to Rukongai," Urahara said pulling his hat low over his eyes.

"No, it never seemed the right time to say: 'Hey, I'm going to the Soul Society to destroy a dangerous marble that was key to the plans of a megalomaniac mass murder taking over the afterlife.' Somehow I don't think that would go over well."

Urahara nodded a ghost of a smile flickering across his face. "And it is safe to say that you did not tell your father either, right?"

"Yeah."

"Let's aim to get you back home in time for dinner then," Urahara said as he opened the trap door a wide smile on his face.

Ichigo shook his head. Urahara's ability to defy convention and basic morals astounded him sometimes.

At the bottom of the ladder Ichigo turned around to see a black cat studying him with golden eyes.

"Hello Yoruichi," He said with a casual wave.

The cat blinked slowly somehow conveying that she was not amused in the single movement. She turned to Urahara as the shopkeeper dropped into the sand. "It's not nearly as fun when you tell them in advance, Kisuke," The cat said in a deceptively deep, male voice.

"Ichigo-kun is a special case," Urahara said in his usual cheery way.

Yoruichi snorted at him.

"Ichigo-kun, Yoruichi-san will be going with you on your little quest," Urahara said over dramatically. He was even waving his hands around like a loon.

Ichigo glared at the man. "This is not a children's show, Geta-boshi, so stop acting like one of those over the top hosts."

Urahara laughed sheepishly from behind his ever present fan. Yoruichi looked between the two in surprise. Something was going on here. Something Kisuke did not bother to tell her about. Kisuke was the same as always, putting on an act to get others to let their guard down. But the kid wasn't buying it. For the first time in a long time she felt that her old friend had bitten off more than he could chew.

"You didn't say that he was just a kid, Kisuke," Yoruichi groused. She had assumed that this "new help" was coming from an adult.

"I knew I forgot something," Urahara said with pretend regret.

Yoruichi bristled, unsheathed her claws and reached out scratching him on the nose. "Why are you sending a child into the upper districts of Rukongai?"

"It was his idea?" Urahara said holding his nose to hide a series of claw marks. Wide blue eyes peered at her over his hands all but begging for forgiveness.

Yoruichi growled at him.

"Hey, can you two finish the comedy act later? I got until dinner time to get this done," Ichigo butted in without thinking. He was too caught up in what would happen in the near future should he come home too late.

The cat and the shopkeeper exchanged a look and simultaneously burst out laughing. Ichigo glowered at their hunched forms. Yoruichi actually fell over sideways and started to roll around in the the dirt. Did they not understand impending doom when they saw it? He was already on thin ice because of the fighting at school.

"Just get on with it," Ichigo snapped blushing a bright red to match his hair. He knew he sounded exactly like the child he appeared to be and not the man he was, thank you very much. They did not have to laugh at him because of it.

Without warning Ichigo received a sword cane upside the head. Even with the gikongan Urahara had given him if Ichigo wasn't fast enough Urahara would use his own method to expel Ichigo from his body. It had actually become a game of sorts between them. Ichigo would dodge as fast as he could and pop the gikongan into his mouth, and Urahara would try to whack him with his cane. Ichigo had taken his eyes off of Urahara for too long.

"Sadistic bastard," Ichigo said looking down at his lifeless body sprawled out on the ground.

"Mmm," was the only answer he got as Urahara held out the Hougyoku for him to take.

Yoruichi gasped when she saw it. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" She demanded her fur standing on end. Urahara had not told her that the Hougyoku would be involved. She studied Ichigo's nonstandard shihakushou and blades more carefully. And then there was the fact that the boy had an alarming amount of reiatsu. Perhaps she had been the one to bite off more than she could chew. Damn Urahara and his fondness for secrets.

"Ichigo-kun believes that he can destroy it for me," Urahara told her eyes locked on the Hougyoku as Ichigo pocketed it.

Yoruichi knew that he considered the hougyoku and those he had not been able to cure with it his greatest failure. "Really?" She asked hopeful in spite of herself.

"Really," Urahara said. He walked over to the gate he had set up. "This will take you to the Soul Society. You will have to find an appropriate area to do whatever you are going to do from there." He gave Yoruichi a significant look.

She paused mid-step. Urahara did not know how the kid was going to destroy the hougyoku? Suddenly she realized how much more important her presence was than she had first thought. Urahara may trust the kid enough to give him the hougyoku, but not to leave him alone with it. It would be her job to stop the boy if he tried to run off with it.

Ichigo was nodding at Urahara's words completely unaware of the subtext to the conversation. The boy really did seem guileless.

"Now remember you have a very limited amount of time once you enter the gate-" Urahara began to explain before Ichigo cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah, run like hell, beat you up for leaving out how dangerous it is later." Ichigo said waving off Urahara's prepared speech. Yoruichi's tail twitched in amusement. She w very interested in the by play of the two of them. If she didn't know better, she would assume that Ichigo had the upper hand over her dear old friend. "I got the idea. Open the gate already."

Urahara snapped his fan shut in annoyance and made an indignant noise that sounded more like a clogged drain than anything else.

__Perhaps you should apologize again Ichigo,__Ossan cautioned.__I did tell you not to insult his work. It is his pride.__

__,__ Ichigo thought right back.

__Yes, but this Urahara has yet to betray you. If you are going to be angry at him, be angry for the things he has done, not the things he would have done if you had not been sent back to the past. He is not your enemy. And he is not an enemy you want to have.__

Ichigo shrugged in response and offered Urahara an awkward, apologetic smile. "Ready when you are," He said.

Urahara's frown softened into a thoughtful expression. "Done this before too?" He asked slyly.

Ichigo nodded, then decided to smooth things over with a small offering. "Yeah, but last time it took you a lot longer to build because you needed a matter to reishi converter as well."

That definitely piqued Urahara's interest. Who had the boy taken with him last time that he would have needed to build a matter to reishi converter? And more importantly why did he not have one already? It sounded very useful. He thought it over as he opened the gate.

As the gate stabilized Ichigo turned to the very confused cat. He hid a laugh. A confused cat is a rare but very amusing sight. "Come on Yoruichi, we need to hurry," Ichigo ran through the gate without looking back.

Yoruichi shook herself and leveled a glare at her old friend. She opened her mouth to give him a tongue lashing and maybe a few scratches for drawing her into this.

"You had better hurry," Urahara said before she could start. "He is very proficient at shunpo."

Yoruichi snapped her mouth shut with a click and shunpoed through the gate to catch up with Ichigo. The kid was nowhere in sight. Alarmed she sped up to her top speed in cat form. A moment later she saw the boy flicker into view farther ahead. "Very proficient, my ass," She growled vindictively wanting to give Kisuke a good scratching for not warning her of this earlier. After the boy fore filled his promise to beat up the shopkeeper for whatever imagined wrong he had committed, of course. Behind her she heard the sound of the cleaner speeding after her. Better yet, she would race the kid to the ass kicking. She knew Kisuke could track the damn cleaner if he wanted to.

She caught up to the boy just as the opening to the Soul Society appeared before them in the distance. She jumped on his shoulder for a free ride.

Ichigo glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "About time," He mumbled, but it was not low enough for her better hearing to catch it before the brat _sped up!_

_New plan_, she thought: _kick Kisuke's ass until he begs for death and scratch up ungrateful little brat._

As they burst out into blue sky Yoruichi was surprised by the fact that the boy immediately caught himself and did not fall the customary eighteen meters to the ground. He even made a stair step path down.

She jumped from his shoulder to the ground and glared at him. "Okay," She said in her best authoritative voice. And bristled when Ichigo did not seem impressed. "Kisuke asked me to keep an eye on you, and I owed him a favor, so I agreed. But you obviously don't need help with this, do you?"

Ichigo bent down to pet her behind the ears. Yoruichi leaned into it torn between pleasure and indignation at the boy's forwardness. "I don't need help with the Hougyoku, but you know this place better than I do. Also, Urahara wants you to keep and eye on me and tell him what I do."

Yoruichi flicked her tail. The kid was more than he seemed or at least not as stupid as he pretended to be. "Who are you?" She asked, almost to herself.

"Kurosaki, Ichigo;" He introduced himself. "Just as Urahara probably told you."

Yoruichi wrinkled her nose. Kisuke had been keeping secrets from her again. When would he learn that it was not healthy to keep secrets from her? "So what didn't he tell me?" She asked twitching with the need to sink her claws into Kisuke's flesh.

__Should we tell her? __He asked Zangetsu.

__Sure,__Shiro answered. __And when we get home you can buy billboard space just in case someone doesn't know.__

__The Hollow does have a point.__Ossan said reluctantly.__But it would be counter productive to keep her in the dark.__

Ichigo focused on Yoruichi again.

"What are you doing?" She asked referring to the spaced out look he got whenever he concentrated on what Zangetsu was saying.

"Consulting with my zanpakutou," He said. "I'm from the future."

Yoruichi snorted in disbelief. Maybe Urahara had been coaching the boy, and this was an elaborate joke. Her oldest friend was about to become her deadest friend.

"Confirm it with Urahara. He knows. But it is true. I even knew you," Ichigo said. He wasn't about to try to explain himself to someone who didn't believe him. He had more important things to do.

"Oh really?" Yoruichi asked airily sure she had caught him in his lie.

"Yeah," Ichigo smirked. He loved doing this. It was the fun part of being in the past. "You are Shihouin Yoruichi, the Shihouin Princess, Goddess of Flash, ex-Commander of the Onmitsukidou, ex-Taicho of Squad Two of the Gotei 13, and probably a lot of other titles I don't know about. You have lots of titles."

Yoruichi blinked at him. That was exactly what she had been saying for years.

"Oh, and I know that you don't wear clothes in your cat form, so if you need to change, kindly tell me so that I can look away."

"No wonder Kisuke seems so flustered," Yoruichi commented. She was starting to take the 'from the future' thing seriously In spite of herself. "You have him writhing with curiosity. I would have less luck in that area with hot knives than you do with a few well chosen words."

Ichigo cringed at the unsubtle reminder that Yoruichi have been one of the Onmitsukidou, one of those trained to__handle things.__ He missed her as a friend and mentor. It hurt to have her be so suspicious of him.

She pointed with a paw. "The outer districts are this way," She said turning away from Seireitei.

Ichigo didn't say anything. Instead he took off at his fastest shunpo while not in bankai once he felt Yoruichi's weight on his shoulder.

2

After about an hour of shunpo, they had only reached district sixty. Ichigo stopped and scowled at his surroundings. "I am so grounded." He groused.

"What were you expecting? The Soul Society is huge," Yoruichi had draped herself around the boy's neck so they could speak quietly. They were on an empty road, but one couldn't be too careful with sensitive information, and Yoruichi had a feeling Ichigo was full of it. No wonder Kisuke was practically gnawing on his paper fan in frustration. She had had to listen to him complain for two hours about how "Ichigo-kun" didn't trust him enough to talk to him.

"I expected Urahara to send us more toward the outer districts," Ichigo scratched his head. "Maybe I should have let him send me to Hueco Mundo."

Yoruichi's fur stood on end at that revelation. "Do you actually need to be completely isolated?" She asked holding herself back from demanding how he knew about Hueco Mundo. Only high ranked Shinigami even knew it existed. She did not know if she could take the answer at this point.

"I need an empty area where I can discharge a lot of energy without hurting people. But more importantly, I need to be outside easy reach of the Gotei 13. I'm not even going to try to hide the energy spike I'm going to create. We need a head start more than anything." Under his breath he muttered. "And hopefully they respond to this kick in the ass."

Yoruichi's ear twitched. She wondered what that was about. "So at least out to district 68."

"Yeah." He started running again.

3

Another hour at what Yoruichi would swear was shunpo as fast as her top speed in human form they finally made it to the 68th district. Luckily it was a deserted, forested part of the district. "This will have to do," Ichigo announced.

"You sure?" Yoruichi asked. "I thought you were worried about the Gotei 13."

"I'm more afraid of my mother," Ichigo admitted. Yoruichi giggled. He frowned at her but didn't say anything. Defending himself would most likely make her laugh harder. Instead he found a large clearing to work in.

Ichigo drew his zanpakutou. Yoruichi stopped laughing and watched fascinated. She wondered what exactly the boy was going to do. "You may want to back up," He said. "A lot," Ichigo added when she only backed up a few paces. Yoruichi snorted but obediently backed off to the edge of the clearing. Kisuke had been wondering out loud, and continuously, about this zanpakutou's abilities. He would be thrilled to hear that Ichigo had used it, and she would never be forgiven if she missed it.

To her surprise Ichigo thrust both blades out before him, parallel to the ground and very close together. His reiatsu spiked dramatically creating a physical whirlwind. With him at its center. Yoruichi watched eyes wide as the blades started to glow in a blue white light, and the trench knife melted into the larger blade. "Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu!" She heard Ichigo call before the force of Ichigo's reiatsu pushed her to the ground. It had been a very long time since she had experienced this feeling. The force of another's reiatsu weighing on her. She forced her head up to see the boy.

Ichigo stood unmoving. His aura had turned a red tinged black, lashing around him violently. Then the reiatsu disappeared completely. There was nothing Yoruichi could sense from Ichigo at all. It was as if he had become a normal citizen of Rukongai.

Yoruichi looked around for a giant manifestation of the bankai, perhaps a construct, but saw none. Ichigo looked much the same. The only changes seemed to be a long black coat with white fur lining the hem, cuffs, and neckline, and a white crisscross pattern down the sleeves to his gloved hands. The black bit of what looked like a black hollow mask was set over his left eye with a wicked horn jutting forward. Once warm brown eyes were now a piercing gold.

Yoruichi laughed quietly when she saw the blade. It was a long daito twice Ichigo's height. It curved back from the tip and the non cutting edge was adorned with three wicked looking prongs. The manji tsuba looked large in Ichigo's small hand. The whole thing was pitch black and seemed to absorb the light.

She supposed that it would look menacing in the hands of a full grown man, but with a child holding it, it looked ridiculous. In Yoruichi's not so humble opinion Ichigo's bankai had great fashion sense but none of the flare and overstated power other bankai had. Kisuke would be so disappointed.

Ichigo wanted to murder his zanpakutou. Tensa Zangetsu knew Ichigo looked like an idiot holding the full length blade. He also didn't care. __Bankai is supposed to be a zanpakutou at the pinnacle of its power and majesty. Why would we reduce that just because our wielder is self-conscious of his height?__

Ichigo huffed indignantly at the sword. He could hear Yoruichi's hissing laughter in the background. Grumbling at Tensa, Ichigo pulled the hougyoku out of his shihakushou and gripped it tightly in his left hand. He checked to make sure that Yoruichi was back far enough before turning to face the opposite direction.

__,__Tensa Zangetsu, the combined form of Ossan and Shiro said. __They felt your release all the way in Seireitei. Remember to focus on the reishi signature you wish to draw from and pull it into your core, but keep it separated from your own reiryoku.__

Ichigo nodded and gripped the Hougyoku tighter. He found the spirit ribbon of it after a moment of looking. It was harder to find as it was colorless, almost like a ribbon of glass. He pulled. __Holy shit! There is a lot of____it. __He thought trying to draw it into himself. He met resistance. The orb was fighting him, but he was damned if he was going to be out stubborned by an overpowered rock. Ichigo yanked on the Hougyoku's reiryoku until he felt it rush into him. There was so much his skin began to tingle with the overflow of power, and he became light headed.

__Enough, __Tensa warned.__Do not take so much into your core that it overwhelms you. We will have to do this several times.__ A short pause. __I would aim up.__

Ichigo drew in a deep breath. They always talked in manga and anime like brimming with power was a wonderful feeling. Ichigo only felt nauseous. It was a really uncomfortable experience, like having a shot of adrenaline administered and then finding out you couldn't move, or eating too much and feeling sick afterward.

He forcefully pushed the energy into his zanpakutou, lining the blade as he would to prepare for a Getsuga Tenshou. Though this was not a normal Getsuga Tenshou. An arch of dark purple/black energy shot into the sky dimming the daylight.

As soon as the energy left his blade, Ichigo was drawing more. By the forth repetition he could feel the Hougyoku's desperation hammering at him. He felt it grab at his own power but pushed it away violently. Then the damn thing actually tried to consume Tensa Zangetsu at one point. Ichigo saw red. This was what had happened to Kyouka Suigetsu in the end. The Hougyoku had consumed the zanpakutou for more power. Aizen had been a fool.

Tensa Zangetsu said, __I can handle it. Just don't let it take over your core.__

It took three more draws of energy and three more arches of dark light flashing across the sky before the Hougyoku was only a black marble in the palm of his hand. Ichigo felt miserable. It felt like he had killed someone, not something. He hoped he had made the right choice. He swayed on his feet in hurt, and all he wanted to do was lay down and sleep.

Ichigo felt an arm wrap around his shoulders, steadying him. "Well, they would have noticed that." He looked up to see Yoruichi in human form. He blinked. She was not naked. At some point while he was draining the hougyoku she had dressed in her traditional Onmitsukidou uniform, complete with greaves and vambraces for her special form of hakuda.

_Where the heck did the clothes come from? _Ichigo wondered dazed. "Let's go boyo," She said picking him up bridal style. Ichigo scowled. He hated being little. But before he could demand to be put down a smooth voice interrupted him.

"Oh please, do not leave just yet. I find that boy's zanpakutou to be... interesting"


	7. Chapter 7

1

Yoruichi spun around so quickly to face the owner of the voice that Ichigo's vision blurred for an instant. When he could see again he saw a man dressed in a white trench coat with a fur collar. He stood next to the tree line obscured by shadows observing them. He stepped forward into the sunlight revealing shoulder length brown hair, and deep purple shadows ringed around pale blue eyes like the fur pattern of a raccoon.

"Who are you?" Yoruichi asked suspiciously hugging Ichigo closer to her body, much to his embarrassment. She could feel that something was off about the stranger. His reiatsu seemed incomplete for some reason.

"My name is Muramasa." He said eyes never leaving Ichigo. "And you would be Kurosaki, Ichigo." His eyes flicked briefly to Yoruichi. "And Shihouin, Yoruichi."

Yoruichi put Ichigo back on his feet and moved to stand between him and the unknown threat. "How do you know us?" Yoruichi demanded.

Muramasa smiled mysteriously, or in Ichigo's opinion annoyingly. "That I cannot tell you."

Yoruichi did not look too happy at the answer. "Then tell me what you are instead."

Ichigo started in surprise at the question. His eyes scanned the man again, this time more carefully. He noted the long red nails as Muramasa slowly drew his sword. Ichigo had learned early that most differences in personal expression in the afterlife – clothing, piercings, tattoos and odder things- could be written off as quirky. But these wicked looking nails stretched that theory a little too far. He cursed his inability to read reiatsu signatures for the thousandth time. He was wiser than he had been when he was fifteen and knew that if he could read his opponent better he might go flying through less walls. Learning your opponents fighting style on the fly usually meant a lot of unnecessary pain.

"I? I am one who has been greatly wronged by the Shinigami and that cowardly government they follow. You Shinigami girl will be a victim of my revenge," Muramasa charged forward at a speed just below a shunpo and stabbed at Yoruichi. With a contemptuous smirk, the Goddess of Flash vanished and the sword whipped through air instead of flesh.

She dropped back into visible range behind Muramasa ready to strike him down with a quick but deadly jab to his neck at the base of the skull.

Without looking Muramasa's arm blurred and he caught her wrist. Yoruichi did not expect him to be fast enough to follow her movements let alone stop them. Without even turning Muramasa used her forward momentum to throw her over his head with the strength of his arm alone.

Yoruichi recovered quickly in mid air and landed a few meters away in a crouch. She would not be able to defeat him easily. Muramasa was a very strong and skilled opponent. Maybe, in hindsight, it had not been such a good idea to slack off in her training for the last couple of decades.

Yoruichi shot forward at her fastest short range shunpo and kicked Muramasa in the solar plexus. This time the strike hit making him stumble back and double over in pain. Muramasa gritted his teeth and clamped his hand around Yoruichi's ankle in a vice like grip before she could pull back. He spun around and flung her into a nearby tree.

Yoruichi turned mid air to dampen the blow but the air was still knocked out of her lungs, and she lay for a split second to long stunned. Before she could gather herself she felt bonds wrap around her body attaching her to the tree. She panted to catch her breath and tested the bonds straining her muscles as far as she could only to find that they were stronger than the normal kidou bonds the Onmitsukidou used, and that she had learned how to break. She looked down to see whether she could identify the binding by sight only to find that there was nothing to see.

With Yoruichi neutralized Muramasa turned back to Ichigo. He considered the boy for a moment with his arm pressed to his side. The last blow still radiating pain through his body. Ichigo brought his daito up in his standard guard. "Indeed you have a fascinating zanpakutou." The man said as if he had not just been attacked by a captain class Shinigami.

Ichigo scowled at Muramasa. He was getting annoying and not a little bit creepy with his fixation on Zangetsu. "What. Do. You. Want." Ichigo said clipping each word. He brought up Zangetsu.

Muramasa's smile sent chills down Ichigo's spine. "I only wish to speak to your zanpakutou, face to face."

Before Ichigo could process the strange words, Muramasa's eyes glowed purple. "Come forth Zangetsu!" Both of Ichigo's sword's began to glow with the same purple light.

Between Ichigo and Muramasa reishi coalesced and Tensa Zangetsu was standing before them dressed in opposite colors to Ichigo's bankai. The combined spirit looked around confused at being outside of Ichigo's inner world. He looked around hair whipping about this face as he tried to get his bearings.

Ichigo's bankai dissipated autocratically and the blades separated. As the bankai deactivated Tensa Zangetsu split into the two different zanpakutou spirits. Ichigo grabbed his trench knife only on reflex. He stared at Zangetsu in horror. He had not been the one to call them out. How could they be here?

"Fascinating," Muramasa said gazing with absolute wonder at the dual spirits. Even Yoruichi, who had cut through her bonds using Shunkou, stopped to stare.

Muramasa stepped forward and addressed the spirits directly. "Zangetsu-"

"How ya know our name?" Shiro demanded shaking his head to clear it. He looked pissed. Beyond pissed, he looked about to go on a murderous rampage.

"I have the unique ability to free zanpakutou from their oppressive masters," Muramasa answered not recognizing the signs. "I know all zanpakutou names." Ichigo backed up to watch the show and hopefully not be collateral damage. I would be nice to have Shiro beat someone else to a pulp for once.

Ossan held his hand to his head frowning. "You are also a zanpakutou spirit, are you not?"

Ichigo jerked at the words. That was just not fair. How come his zanpakutou was better at sensing reiatsu than he was? He searched the clearing and the trees for a Shinigami expecting to see the wielder not too far away. There was no one.

"Yes, I am," Muramasa said. He looked pleased that Ossan had figured it out. "I am a zanpakutou who has cast off the chains of the Shinigami. I have freed you from your own master so that you can join me in my revolution."

Shiro stared at Muramasa, yellow eyes glinting, as if Muramasa was the insane one of the two of them. "Ya expect me ta be grateful for that?"

Muramasa stepped back nonplussed. He had never had a zanpakutou deny his will so blatantly before.

"Look ya lonely bastard, I know how it is when yer Shinigami wont listen ta ya. Hell, yer's isn't even here. Me an' Ichi here used ta fight til his inner world ran red with blood. I even threatened ta eat his family's souls. So I know what you are doin' an' why yer doin' it. But ya really gotta work these things out with yer own Shinigami. Not try ta break up other Shinigami/zanpakutou relationships outta spite."

The clearing was absolutely silent. Ichigo could not believe Shiro had expressed himself so eloquently. He had only cursed twice! Muramasa himself was stunned. He seemed over come with an emotion that Ichigo could not name.

Ossan broke the silence. "I will be going with you," He said stepping up beside Muramasa.

"What?" Both Ichigo and Shiro cried at once, one pained, the other outraged.

Muramasa was just as surprised. He had thought his spell completely broken. "You are going to split apart?" He asked curious. Never had he seen a zanpakutou like this one. None of the others, including other dual blades, had the ability to split up.

"I am," Ossan answered. "Shiro obviously wishes to stay with Ichigo, in spite of your best efforts. Their bond is stronger than you can imagine. He will never leave his wielder. I, on the other hand, have not always had the same bond as a zanpakutou, and my relationship with Ichigo is much more tenuous."

"Ossan," Ichigo choked out. His voice sounded small and a little lost.

A white Khyber knife landed on Ossan's shoulder in warning. "Wait a sec, Quincy. Only someone strong enough ta defeat us can wield Zangetsu. They have ta prove themselves with blood an' conviction. We agreed on this. Ya don't get ta wander off with the first pretty face ta come by."

"You have your answers Hollow. Now I have to find mine."

Shiro stepped back to Consider Ossan's meaning. He was very cryptic at the best of times.

Muramasa ignored the byplay between the two spirits. He was staring askance at Ichigo. "A kid?" He asked. "You were bested by a kid?"

"Bite me, Fussy," Shiro said in his typical insulting fashion. A manic smile bloomed on his face. "Or rather I should be the one bitin' you. No one's gonna miss a renegade zanpakutou. Hell, they may even thank me. I wonder if I could evolve as a hollow if I ate ya." He stroked his chin in a mockery of contemplation.

Ichigo was in a state of shock. He probably should reign Shiro in, but he could not get passed the fact that Ossan wanted to leave him. "Why?" He whispered wanting, no needing, to know how he had pushed Ossan away.

"You may have proven yourself to Shiro but not to me." Was the succinct reply. "It is true that you did not cast me aside whey you had the chance, but as of now, you have a stronger bond with your hollow than you do with me."

Muramasa stepped forward and lay his hand on Ossan's shoulder. "I seems as if this Zangetsu at least is ready to be free."

"Ya have no idea what yer talken' about, Quincy, or you either, Fussy." Shiro swung his blade in a downward arch intending to spit Muramasa in two.

Muramasa shunpoed to the side avoiding the slash, barely. But he was caught off guard when Shiro changed the direction of his strike into a side slash to follow his movement. Muramasa barely brought up his sword in time, vertically blade down, to block the strike.

"You are good." Muramasa said. "I find it difficult to believe that this boy overpowered you and gained such unthinking trust."

Shiro snorted and pushed his blade harder against the other. "Getsuga Tenshou." The blade flared a red tinged black briefly, and a small wave of energy shot forth from the tip of the blade into Muramasa's chest pushing him back.

Muramasa caught his balance and charged forward again. The two traded a series of quick blows, neither able to break the others guard.

Shiro frowned. This guy easily matched him in skill. And worse, Muramasa had yet to use any special tricks to finish the match. He didn't much like to think that he may be fighting an equal. He had no equals.

Muramasa must have come to the same conclusion about their relative skill levels. His eyes flashed purple once more. Shiro felt a haze descend on his mind. He stopped moving and concentrated very hard on Muramasa, waiting for the next strike. His connection to Ichigo felt fuzzy and tingly, like a limb that had lost blood circulation. The link was still there but tenuous. He could cut it if he wished to do so. Just one swipe of his sword would sever it completely, and he would finally be king.

Shiro growled and stabbed at Muramasa viciously. What kind of person would manifest a zanpakutou that could come between other zanpakutous and their wielders. He hated being manipulated. The very idea made him see red. He jumped back and pooled a massive amount of reiryoku into his blade before letting fly one of his most powerful Getsuga Tenshou.

It ripped up the ground in a shock wave flinging clods of dirt and debris before it in a still fatal secondary attack. Muramasa saw the the blast coming and shunpoed out of the way as the Getsuga Tensho impacted on the trees lining the clearing and blowing them to splinters.

Muramasa reappeared behind Shiro, but Shiro had spun around instantly after releasing the Getsuga Tensho. He blocked the surprise attack and threw Muramasa back with the force of his spin. He came to a stop sword at the ready to see Muramasa staring at him with wide eyes. So he had surprised the leech, good.

Shiro screamed incoherently and attacked once more before the other could get his baring. If their skill level was equal there was always instinct to lean on. And Shiro loved to revel in his bloody nature. His attacks became faster and even more vicious than before. Playing nice with Ichigo over the last two years had left him with a lot of pent up blood lust, and he unleashed it all on Muramasa.

Yoruichi stood near Ichigo watching the two fight. She was waiting for an opening in which to strike. It said a lot about their skill levels that she had yet to find one. Shiro was almost in a constant state of shunpo, attacking from the most unlikely of directions and barely stopping long enough to sight his next landing before disappearing with another burst of speed.

Muramasa was admirably blocking every attack and adding his own shunpo into the mix so that even with decades of experience in tracking high speed fights, she only saw blurs.

"I wouldn't interrupt them," Ichigo said placing his hand on her arm to keep her from jumping in. "Shiro is having way too much fun."

He had yet to make a decisive move to finish the fight. I don't think he can," Yoruichi said.

Ichigo shrugged. "He doesn't want to. But if Shiro pauses too long Muramasa will be the one to make the decisive move. Right now Shiro is playing his favorite game."

"Game?" Yoruichi asked incredulously.

"Fighting."

Yoruichi snorted. "This is not a game. I should be able to tip the scales in our favor. Doesn't your zanpakutou know anything about teamwork?"

"He is a hollow. They are alone for much of their existence. Shiro will kill you if you get between him and his prey."

Yoruichi rubbed her eyes in frustration. "I want to though. I can't believe I let him get the drop on me." She said voice full of consternation. "I am way out of shape if a mere zanpakutou spirit can take me out of the fight."

Another Getsuga Tensho ripped across the clearing followed by a second and a third from right angles to the original attack. Yoruichi's jaw dropped when all three hit Muramasa at the same time. "How can he be so fast?" She said in awe.

"Hollow sonido plus shunpo. You could call it Ludicrous Speed." Ichigo said blandly. He was not as impressed as he could do the same with bankai and mask.

Muramasa, visible once more after the dust settled and the light of the Getsuga Tensho faded, was very much ruffled but still not seriously injured.

"Oh come on! What does it take to kill this guy?" Shiro yelled slashing at the air angrily. Several black Getsuga Tensho snapped off the blade. All of them heading toward Muramasa.

Muramasa dodged the wild blasts of energy. It was not until he was hit by not one but two of the Getsuga Tensho that he realized the seemingly random swings mad sure that they overlapped, giving Shiro a wider, unbroken area of effect.

Shiro grinned insanely a leaped the distance between them sword ready for a downward swing. Ossan was the one to stop the strike.

"I cannot let you kill him." The older zanpakutou spirit said. The warning was clear in his voice. "If you continue as you are you will have to fight me, and there will be no holding back."

Shiro growled and stepped back. "Ya wanna fight? Let's go!" He said leveling his blade at Ossan.

This time it was Ichigo who stopped the fight. He grabbed Ossan's cloak and yanked hard to get his attention on him instead of Shiro. "No," He said. "I wont let you fight each other."

"I'm not just gonna stand back and let him abandon us, Aibou." Shiro spat. "If I have ta beat the crap outta him to make sure it wont happen, then I will."

"No, If he is going to be fighting anyone, it will be me." Ichigo brought up his weapons. "You want me to prove I am worthy of my Quincy powers, fine. Shiro, return to my inner world."

"Aibou!"

"Now!" Ichigo commanded.

That brought Shiro up short. He was not used to Ichigo throwing out orders so easily. He grumbled to himself but did begin to fade. Just before his transparent form disappeared completely he turned to Ossan. "We are not finished with this."

"Strange being," Muramasa commented. He strode over to Ossan ignoring his new, slight limp. "We need to leave now." He said to the other zanpakutou spirit.

"Wait!" Ichigo said grip tightening on his blades. "You can't go."

Muramasa sneered. "You are merely a whinny brat with barely any control over your reiatsu. What you have failed to notice that everyone else here has,even your own companion," He nodded at Yoruichi. "Is that, right now, there are two Shinigami taichou headed this way." He opened a garganta with a flick of his wrist. "It would be best if none of us were found here." With that Muramasa stepped through the garganta. Ossan glanced at Ichigo over his shoulder as he followed.

Ichigo was paralyzed. Up until that moment he had not believed Ossan would leave him.

__Ya know, he might not even be thinkin' for himself___. _Shiro admitted. __Fussy's ability is much more sinister than it appears at first. Still gonna kick some old man ass though.__

__What do you mean? __Ichigo said clinging to the slim hope his hollow was offering.

_Eh, his ability uses your insecurities ya have about yer relationship with yer wielder. If ya question it at all Fussy can use it as a wedge to split ya apart. Good thing our relationship's been through hell huh? I'm pretty sure you'll cut off yer own arm first, before giving me up._

It was kind of disturbing how sure of that Shiro was. Ichigo was about to reply when a hand landed on his shoulder startling him back to the real world. "We need to leave as well. I cannot be caught here, and it is best if you are not. Let's go home."

"No," Ichigo sheathed his weapons. "We are going to find Ossan."

"He has made his choice. There is nothing you can do right now."

"The hell there isn't," Ichigo growled. "Shiro says Muramasa has some kind of mind control effect on zanpakutou. Ossan may not have even made that decision."

Yoruichi opened her mouth to protest, but decided to change tactics instead. "That was a garganta. They probably went to Hueco Mundo. We would have to go back to Kisuke's and have him make a garganta for us to follow them there."

"No they didn't," Ichigo said with certainty. Practicing finding and separating Ossan's own reiryouku from his own for so long had giving him the ability to sense the zanpakutou spirit in a way he could not with anyone else. He did not know exactly where Ossan was, but he knew they were still somewhere in Rukongai.

"Did you conveniently forget that two taichou will be here momentarily?" Yoruichi asked deadpan.

"No, we are just going to have to stay ahead of them."

2

They had been running non stop for over two hours. Ichigo was not sure which taichou had been sent to head the teams, but they were very good. Ichigo had come to the conclusion that the Shinigami were planning to run them down as there was very little chance of them loosing his trail. His reiatsu could be tracked by a blindfolded first year student standing in a circle of sekkiseki stone, as Yoruichi had pointed out. Their plan would work eventually.

Worse, Ichigo had not had the time with the hounds of the Gotei Thirteen nipping at his heels to stop and find Ossan's spirit ribbon. The thought that he could be moving farther and farther from his zanpakutou spirit's location sent fear tingling down his spine. At first he had been confident in his abilities to find Ossan and return to Urahara's before the taichou found him. Now he was beginning to wonder if he would ever see Ossan again or worse spend the rest of his life confined to the Maggot's Nest.

Yoruichi shunpoed along side him mouth pinched into a hard line. She thought he was a fool. Ichigo knew that much. "You could at least try to hide your reiatsu. We wont get anywhere if we can't shake them off." Her eyes darted around following reiatsu patterns. "They are trying to box us in," She said hair lashing out behind her as if animated by her agitation. "Right now you are as easy to find as a lit candle."

Ichigo flinched at the echo of his own thoughts. He couldn't for the life of him understand why Yoruichi hadn't abandoned him already and made good her own escape. "Sorry," He mumbled just above the wind of their passing. "I have way too much reiryouku; I can't hide it all."

Yoruichi snorted derisively and changed directions in a effort to keep their pursuers from forming a trap to pin them in. "You did it just fine while in bankai. I don't know why you say you can't hide your reiatsu now that there is less of it," She said as Ichigo caught up with her again.

Ichigo grimaced. "I wasn't hiding it. You just couldn't sense it."

Yoruichi's eyes jerked to him in surprise. She was so distracted she almost ran into a tree!. The implication behind Ichigo's words boggled the mind.

"If I actually tried to suppress all of my reiatsu there is a slim change that I might explode," Ichigo continued not noticing Yoruichi's near mishap. "I just can't control all of it at once." He finished desolately. Yoruichi felt for the boy; she really did, but this was still the worst day she had had this century.

"How much reiryouku do you have?" She asked partially curious, partially because a plan was forming in her mind. If he had enough...

"I don't know," Ichigo said as Yoruichi changed directions once more as she felt a group of Shinigami move in on the right. The only reason they had not been caught yet was because Ichigo was as fast as she was, so she could move at full speed.

"Ball park it for me," Yoruichi said. The boy was so ignorant in some areas. It was as if he had never been formally taught anything at all.

"A lot."

Yoruichi barely stopped herself from face-palming. She had already had a near miss with one tree today. She gave up. If the kid collapsed she would carry him back to Urahara's, and they could figure out what to do from there. "Okay, here is what you are going to do: spread your reiatsu out evenly over as big of an area as you can."

"Um..."

"If you can spread your reiatsu evenly over a wide area they wont be able to pinpoint you within that area."

"Oh," Ichigo concentrated for a moment. "How?"

Yoruichi huffed. "It's the opposite of suppressing it," She said wishing for the hundredth time that she had not agreed to watch over the boy. "Make it as even as you can."

__It's like spreading icing on a cake.__Shiro put in helpfully. __Even ya can do that.__

__I liked it better when you didn't talk all the time.__Ichigo concentrated on his mass of reiryoku and for the first time since becoming a Shinigami relaxed his hold on it completely. It spread like a blanket over the surrounding area. All other reiatsu signatures in the area disappeared as if swallowed whole by Ichigo's own.

"Well, I think I know why you have a problem sensing reiatsu," Yoruichi said slowing down to a more sustainable pace. "Make sure they can't tell the difference between the reiatsu and where it originates from and follow me. It's about time we lost our friends."

She sped off in yet another direction hoping that they would not literally run into their pursuers as she was now reiatsu blind. Ichigo followed obediently after her with a thoughtful look on his face.

They stopped about an hour later. Yoruichi surveyed the wooded area. "I think we lost them for now. It's not the best solution, but it will have to do."

Ichigo stood up from where he was bent over panting. He was slightly jealous that Yoruichi didn't even seem winded. "I just need enough time to track Ossan," Ichigo said. Without waiting for Yoruichi's comment, his eyes lost focus and took on a slightly glazed look as he picked out Ossan's spirit ribbon. It only took him a matter of seconds. Practicing for so long at differentiating between Ossan's reiryoku and his own made it easy. "Got him," He nodded toward the north-east. "He is a long way away."

"The mountains," Yoruichi said frowning. "Could be hard to find. You sure you can track them that way?"

"As sure as I am that the Shinigami can find us the same way," Ichigo shot back. After all both he and Ishida used to do it. He saw no reason a trained Shinigami shouldn't be able to.

"Good point," Yoruichi said suddenly worried. "A taichou would be able to if they think of it. But they have to know who they are looking for." She scratched her head the nodded to herself. "Getting caught with me would make things even worse for you than if you were caught alone. Everyone who knows about my cat form is in the human world. I am going to change back." A puff of smoke later a black cat was standing on a pile of clothes where Yoruichi had stood. "Kisuke is going to loose most of his hide when we get back."

"Sorry he dragged you into this," Ichigo said.

Yoruichi snorted. "I said I would look after you, and I will," An indistinct whisper later the clothes disappeared.

Ichigo looked around expecting... He didn't know what. "Where did they go?"

"Huh? Oh, my clothes. It's a kidou Kisuke invented for me. It has something to do with pocket dimensions, an anime he got a hold of and way too much time on his hands."

"Urahara watches anime?" Ichigo asked incredulously. He had never seen a DVD player or a TV at the shoten.

"Once... we try to keep him away from modern science fiction for obvious reasons. Now let's go before they find us.

Ichigo shook himself out of the nightmare of Urahara getting his hands on Star Trek or Star Wars when he felt Yoruichi's weight once again on his shoulder. He took off in the direction Ossan's spirit ribbon as it curled over the horizon.


	8. Chapter 8

1

Later that evening as the sun hung low in the sky, Ichigo bent over with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. He had to stop. He had never done that much long range shunpo before. Not even in his past. With fighting the Hougyoku, having part of his soul ripped away, and then a day's worth of running from Shinigami, Ichigo had managed to do the impossible and spiritually exhaust himself. He was tired. Surprisingly, he had managed to keep his reiatsu spread evenly enough over a very wide area to prevent the Shinigami search teams from finding them.

"Over there," Yoruichi said pointing with her paw. Her fur tickled his cheek. Ichigo scowled thinking of how the fastest Shinigami was hitching a ride on his shoulder. He couldn't help but think that she was somehow testing the limits of his capabilities. You start to worry about things like that when all of your mentors are crazy. "The large fallen tree. You can rest there and not be seen by anyone lucky enough to search in this direction."

Ichigo focused on the tree lying on the forest floor. Being the city boy he was his eyes had just jumped over it altogether. It was covered in moss and looked very... organic in Ichigo's opinion. But he was too tired to care. He mentally crossed his fingers and prayed that there wouldn't be ants as he stumbled over to the tree and crawled into the depression Yoruichi indicated under the rough bark. She had sharp eyes to be able to see this, Ichigo thought as he crawled under the tree. Ichigo could have tripped over it and not found the hidden den. He just hoped the previous owner wouldn't come back.

Once he had settled down Yoruichi curled up in the crook of his neck.

"Can I ask you something that I have been curious about for a long time?" Ichigo asked. His body may have been exhausted, but his mind was racing. He couldn't relax enough to fall asleep. Ichigo figured that talking to someone that was -had been- one of his mentors would help him calm down enough to sleep. Even if the conversation was about something trivial.

"Only if I can ask you a question," Yoruichi replied in that surprisingly deep voice her feline form boasted. "I am very curious about you, Ichigo. I want the chance to satisfy that curiosity."

"And bribe Urahara into doing whatever you want for the information," Ichigo said dryly.

"You will find as you get older that it is the simple pleasures that make life worth living." Yoruichi said primly.

"Sounds fair. But you have to promise to make him work for the information." Ichigo yawned. If he wasn't careful teasing Urahara would become a habit. And Ichigo usually didn't like teasing of any sort. "How do you change into a cat?"

The small body in the crook of his neck vibrated with suppressed laughter. It wasn't the first time she had been asked that question after all. "It's a Shihouin family secret. We are all taught how to do it.

"Really? So you can't tell me how it is done?"

"It's not that I can't; it's that it is tradition not to. You can imagine the advantage of an Onmitsukidou who can change shape. But I don't mind telling. The explanation is simple, but to do it is hard. You know how there is a difference between Shinigami and Hollow reiatsu?" Ichigo nodded while staring up at the tree. "Well the same goes for human and animal. All you have to do is change your reiryouku to match that of a cat's."

Ichigo twitched remembering his conversation with Ossan over Quincy powers. "You mean you change the pattern of your reiryouku?"

Yoruichi lifted her head to study the boy. That was a rather deep understanding of her ability. "Yeah, that's one way of putting it. Just don't let it get out that I told you. Evidently it was something taught to my ancestor by the Spirit King."

Ichigo shook his head. "So it's not forbidden to tell?" He asked pointedly.

He felt the feline shrug again. "I'm willing to play. My turn now. Who taught you shunpo?"

That made Ichigo laugh. "Who else? You did."

Yoruichi blinked. This kid was one surprise after another. The whole time travel theory could actually be true after all.

Ichigo yawned widely and closed his tired eyes. The sun had almost set while they had been talking, and now he could barely make out the roof of his hiding place. There were so many questions he wanted to ask. So many questions he didn't bother to ask the first time. He let his breathing even out to the point where Yoruichi thought he had fallen asleep. Of course, it was on the cusp of sleep that of all the questions he should have asked he asked the most trivial. "Why is your voice so deep when you are a cat?"

Yoruichi chuckled. Her body vibrated with a self satisfied purr. Ichigo was very bad at the question game. He gave much more information than he got. "Cat's don't speak too well," She explained. "It's easier to enunciate at a deeper register."

Ichigo hummed indistinctly in response. It may have been understanding of Yoruichi's explanation; it may have been 'I'm sleepy leave me alone.' "Okay, last question for tonight," Yoruichi said aware that she was loosing her opportunity to dig for information. "What does your bankai actually do?" It looked unimpressive sure. She would have expected more fireworks from a young man like Ichigo, but Yoruichi was well aware that some of the most innocuous things could be the most deadly. After a moment of no response she scratched lightly down the side of his neck leaving behind a series of red marks. "Question for a question remember?"

Ichigo's eyes shot open at the sudden pain. He glared at her. That had hurt. "It does lots of things." He said rolling over on his side with his back to Yoruichi.

"Like?"

Ichigo shut his eyes not really caring at this point if anyone found out about his bankai as long as he got to sleep. "It's a melee enhancement type, more power, more speed... just don't tell Urahara."

"Why not?" Yoruichi asked quietly though she thought she had the answer to that one.

"Don't want to trust him," Ichigo mumbled hoping that would satiate her curiosity for now. Evidently it was because he drifted off to sleep uninterrupted soon after.

2

By mid-morning the next day Ichigo's stomach was rumbling loudly enough to startle small animals. Yoruichi cocked an eyebrow at him before leading him to the outskirts of a small village and turned back into her human form. Ichigo very carefully studied the small dirty shacks and winding dusty streets while she dressed herself.

"You are no fun whatsoever," Yoruichi said through her shirt as she pulled it over her head. She paused to peek out of the neck, chest still uncovered to see if Ichigo was peeking. She huffed in annoyance when she realized that he was not.

"What are we doing here?'' Ichigo said eyes locked on the village. His stomach rumbled again. He was too anxious to catch up with Muramasa and Ossan to listen to his body or notice Yoruichi trying to tease him.

Yoruichi huffed again and pulled her shirt all the way on. "We are here to get you fed," She said. "I can't have you fainting from hunger mid-shunpo. That's not a pretty sight." She walked forward into the village confident that Ichigo would follow the promise of food.

Ichigo did follow grumbling the while time. "I'm fine really," He said "It can wait until we find them."

"No it can't," Yoruichi said. She lead him further into the village where a small bazaar had been set up with merchants selling some pretty pathetic goods by Ichigo's standards. He could smell the food stalls from here. His stomach gave another loud rumble demanding nourishment. "See it's two against one." Yoruichi grinned.

Ichigo grumbled a bit more but did concede that he was starving. Lunch at school the day before had been his last meal, and the smell of cooked food made his mouth water. "But I don't have any money," He said regretfully.

Yoruichi patted him on the head making Ichigo jerk away from her in reaction. "Well you could try your hand at thievery like those kids. She inclined her head at a pair of shabbily dressed boys running past them with very obvious bulges in their yukatas. "Or you could let me by you lunch." She pulled a small pouch seemingly from out of nowhere. Knowing her she probably did. "Always have a bit of money on you while in Rukongai, Ichi-bu. You never know how long you will be staying."

Ichigo scowled. "It's not like they would accept modern yen anyway." He said walking up to a takoyaki stand. Yoruichi grinned at his back and motioned for two portions from the vendor. Ichigo tore into his as soon as it was handed to him. It was unseasoned and a little over cooked, but he didn't really care.

"That good, huh?" Yoruichi said watching him wolf down his portion.

"Barely tasted it," Ichigo answered eyeing the takoyaki in her hand.

Yoruichi grunted as she paid the vendor. She nibbled delicately on her own. "Now, I'm no expert on young boys with high reiatsu, but both Kisuke and Tessai used to eat anything you put in front of them, and a lot of things they were specifically told not to eat...'' She shook her head. "Do you want anything else?"

"Some ramen would be nice." He said hopefully. Yoruichi laughed and dragged him over to a ramen stall.

Once they were both seated in the corner of a stall with bowls of steaming ramen in front of them Yoruichi began to talk quietly. "I am very impressed you know." Ichigo looked up from his bow where he was shoving ramen into his mouth. "You have been able to keep up with me using shunpo, and you picked up that reiatsu blinding trick fairly quickly and managed to use it continuously."

Ichigo swallowed his noodles and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. There were no napkins. "Actually spreading out my reiatsu isn't so hard," He explained. "For me it's more like getting to stretch out and get comfortable than it is an exertion."

Yoruichi almost choked on her ramen. "What?" It was even more proof that Ichigo had vast reserves. Only the strongest of the taichou had to reign in their reiatsu.

"That reiatsu blindness you keep talking about is what I have to try to sense other's reiatsu though all the time. I haven't ever thought of using it to mess with other people's senses though." He sat his completely empty bowl down. "And sense you want to talk, you still owe me two questions."

"Two questions?" Yoruichi asked having a feeling where this was going.

"Yes, before I fell asleep last night you asked two extra questions, so you still owe me."

Yoruichi turned back to her bowl. "I asked one question," She said taking a bite of her own ramen.

"Yes, and I answered it, and you asked two more."

"Those were follow up questions. Your answer wasn't very helpful."

"Bullshit. If I had asked follow up questions you would demand to ask more yourself. You don't get to ask another question just because you don't like the answer you get."

Yoruichi sighed. Looked like Ichigo was not going to let this one go. "You are going to stick with this aren't you?" She asked. Ichigo answered with his most stubborn look. "Fine ask your questions." She waved her hand an a go ahead gesture, wondering what kind of questions he would ask while awake.

Ichigo sat back to think about the questions he wanted to ask. Before settling on the major problem he would have with taking care of Aizen. "Is everyone in Seireitei oblivious to the threat Aizen poses?"

Yoruichi contemplated how to answer that one. She knew Aizen would like to think that his plans were impenetrable but...

"By getting Kisuke and the Visored out of Seireitei Aizen pretty much got rid of everyone who suspected him of having ulterior motives. Some of the older taichou may have their own suspicions on the grounds that no one is that nice without having a reason to be, but other than that Aizen seems like a kind young taichou that everyone can relate to and is willing to help new, talented Shinigami rise to their full potential. There are two taichou and four fukutaichou who can attribute their rise to power to his influence."

"I know them all," Ichigo said quietly. "At least by name."

He frowned. Denouncing Aizen under those conditions would be difficult at best. Never mind the influence of Kyouka Suigetsu. It was looking more and more like Ichigo would have to wait until Aizen revealed himself as a traitor before he could make his move.

"Are you okay?" Yoruichi asked. A kid should not frown so heavily. She wondered what he had been through to develop that particular expression. The frown looked way too at home on his features.

"Yes," Ichigo answered simply. Then he grinned at her.

Yoruichi stared back until it hit her. "That doesn't count."

Ichigo laughed at her. "Fine, I'll give you that one. But there is one thing that I have to ask." He paused to consider what he would say next. He did not want to offend her in any way. "Um, Urahara is difficult to get along with at the best of times," He started. Yoruichi snorted in response. She was in the middle of Rukongai with an unknown Shinigami because of Urahara. She could translate the awkward statement. She motioned with her hand for him to spit it out already. "It's just, why did you give up everything to become an outlaw for him?"

Yoruichi smiled sadly. "If you are looking for a deep, dark romantic relationship..." The look on Ichigo's face made her stop. The kid looked like he had bitten into a lemon.

"Not what I was going for." He informed her.

"Well, there isn't," She said defensively. "Kisuke is my best friend. He needed my help, and I couldn't work for an organization that had condemned him for a crime he did not commit. I would have also had to have been the one to hunt him down and kill him if it came to that."

Ichigo nodded in understanding. Yoruichi's answer made him miss his own friends who had been just as devoted to him once upon a time.

"Hey!" A voice called out from behind them making Ichigo jump. He bent down into his bowl hoping that that call was not for him. "Hey you, kid." No such luck. "I don't remember you from the briefing."

Ichigo and Yoruichi traded a glance. Yoruichi went back to her ramen. It was obvious in that instant that Ichigo was on his own in this. She was not going to compromise herself unless he was in real danger. Ichigo turned to face the man who had called out to him and cursed under his breath when he saw him. It was a Shinigami. How had they found them? He looked around the quiet village. Everyone was minding their own business as far as he could tell, and Yoruichi hadn't mentioned anything so... dumb luck?

The Shinigami in question didn't even look like a seated officer. The man wore a standard shihakushou. He was of average height and average build, and seemed so... average. Ichigo hoped he would not have to fight this man. Fighting a Shinigami at this level did not sit right with him. It would make him look like a bully.

"Excuse me?" Ichigo asked walking up to the man. He tried his best to look nonthreatening.

The man blinked in surprise as he got closer. He obviously wasn't expecting what he saw. "Look kid, I don't know what kind of game you are playing, but you shouldn't go around dressed like that."

"Huh?" Ichigo blurted out not understanding the turn in the conversation. And just what was wrong with the way he was dressed?

"It's illegal to dress like a Shinigami in Seireitei unless you are a part of the Gotei 13, and this far out into the districts looking like that could get you into far worse trouble. I mean, you even have swords, which is really odd this far out in Rukongai. I do hope you obtained those legally." The Shinigami eyed him suspiciously here, as if waiting for Ichigo to confess to killing someone for their zanpakutou. Ichigo stared back dumbfounded. "Though it would make more sense if you used a plain katana instead of those... what are those supposed to be anyway?" The man said obviously lost on a tangent.

By this time Ichigo was too busy gaping at the man to pay much attention to what exactly he was saying. He was getting lectured for playing dress up. He sweat-dropped. But it was a relief that the did not know who exactly they were looking for.

"Everyone who does not know the name of their zanpakutou carries the standard asauchi, which is like a standard katana in shape and size. Even most sealed zanpakutou look like katanas." He smiled sheepishly at Ichigo. "Sorry, I got carried away. I'm a recent graduate of Shin'ou Academy myself, and I don't know my zanpakutou's name yet." He gestured to the asauchi at his side. He looked at the expression on Ichigo's face and misinterpreted it as awe. "Don't worry, in a few more years you will be able to go to the Academy yourself and become a true Shinigami."

"Duh."

The man had rendered him completely speechless.

"Speaking of which I had better get some lunch before my break is over." His face turned stern for all of three seconds as he cautioned, "Don't be leaving the village for a few days now. It may be fun playing Shinigami, but right now there is someone dangerous out there that we are trying to catch. So you just stay near your home for a few days until we catch him, alright?"

Ichigo nodded mutely. It was probably better to let the man live on with his misconceptions than to correct him and say that it was, in fact, Ichigo that he was trying to hunt down. But his pride really wanted him to. With a quick goodbye the Shinigami was gone on the hunt for his own lunch.

Ichigo stared after the Shinigami a long time after he had turned the corner. He turned back to the ramen stall to see Yoruichi on the ground holding her stomach as if mortally wounded. Tears were running down her cheeks.

Ichigo scowled at her. "Get up. It isn't that funny."

She pulled herself up off the ground with some difficulty. "To you maybe. For me that was the best entertainment I have had all month. Oh, that was too funny," She wheezed holding her side. Ichigo crossed his arms defensively. "Look, no one is going to take you seriously as long as you look like a little boy, no matter what your real age is supposed to be," Yoruichi said once she caught her breath. "I'm still reserving judgment myself."

Ichigo growled at her and stomped toward the edge of the village intent on continuing his search for Ossan. Spirit ribbon in hand he turned to Yoruichi. "You ready?"

"One moment." Yoruichi transformed back into her cat form and muttered the kidou to stash her clothes. She then jumped back onto his shoulder making Ichigo roll his eyes. It looked like he would be carrying her the whole time they searched. They continued their journey for the rest of the day and on into the night until the stars came out, and they could no longer see where they were going under the thick canopy of trees.

They had to crawl under some brush to hide for the night. Ichigo thought longingly of the fallen tree from the night before as twigs and surprisingly sharp foliage scratched his skin and snagged at his clothes. Yoruichi took her now custom position in the crook of his neck looking way too comfortable to Ichigo. He shifted again, trying in vain to find a position where he was not being poked.

"Don't move around so much," Yoruichi complained. Ichigo grumbled indistinctly about prissy cats, but Yoruichi's sharp hearing picked up more than a few interesting phrases. "Young boy's shouldn't use language like that," She said shifting to get comfortable again. She got a grunt in reply.

After a long stretch of silence Yoruichi decided that Ichigo was still awake enough to start up their little question game again. "Back to our fascinating conversation from before: why don't you want to trust Kisuke?"

"We still doing that?" Ichigo complained.

"Yes, we are. Now answer the question."

Ichigo scratched at his knee. Damn brush was going to give him a rash; he knew it. "I did trust him once. In my own time line. But in that time line my mother died. Now I find out that he had had a part to play in her death. And the whole working with Aizen thing."

Yoruichi didn't have anything to say to that. She wished she could reassure the boy, but even though she was confident that Kisuke meant well in whatever he did, sometimes -or every time- you got into the middle of one of his schemes it was hard to tell up from down until it was all finished. The man had an infuriating habit of keeping his motives a secret until the bitter end.

"Why do you trust him?" Ichigo asked suddenly.

Yoruichi blinked slowly wondering if she could demand another question. There was no easy answer to that one. "Kisuke has never let me down," She said quietly. "And I know how you feel about Aizen, but Kisuke has been working against Aizen since the exile. Aizen crossed some sort of line at that point. They no longer have the same goals, no matter what their relationship was before that time." She stopped to consider her next words very carefully. His mother's death had obviously affected him greatly before, and not even her being alive this time could completely erase those mental scars. "If it helps any. I just want you to know that even if Kisuke had let your mother die he would have felt guilty about it."

Ichigo turned to look at her skeptically and got a face full of fur for his trouble. "He sent you back to the moment in time where she could be saved. He did not let her die this time. Please take that into consideration before you judge him."

Ichigo contemplated Yoruichi's words as he drifted off to sleep. The only conclusion that he could make was that people were not equipped to deal with the changes time travel entailed. This included the good and the bad.

3

It was the next day after a hasty breakfast that Yoruichi had thought to pack from their stop in the village. She flat out told Ichigo to always have someone with him to make sure he got fed on a regular basis. If it were left to him, he would have withered away years ago. They caught up to Muramasa and Ossan. They had left the forest behind and were now in the rocky foot hills of a tall mountain.

"He's near," Ichigo breathed in anticipation. He could barely contain his elation at having found Ossan at last, and it bubbled over along with his anxiety and frustration at the whole situation. He did not bother to drop out of shunpo before drawing and crossing blades with his errant zanpakutou spirit.

After two years of not so gentle training at the hands of Shiro, Ichigo was just as fast as he had been in the future. He also had the endurance for the long drawn out battles he was used to fighting, but nothing would make up for a smaller body. As soon as Ossan put his weight behind his own blade, Ichigo was bounced back and landed far outside easy reach of a sword.

As Ichigo crossed blades with Ossan, Yoruichi saw her chance and did not wait for Ichigo to land before she jumped from her perch straight at Muramasa all claws out. Muramasa may have been a master swordsman with the ability to read an opponent's moves in an instant, but he was lacking considerably in experience with cat fighting. It is also hard to cut something with a long pointy object when it is clinging to your back and tearing strips out of your clothes and skin.

Yoruichi was a whirlwind of feline furry as she applied some of her favorite Onmitsukidou techniques with claw in all of the soft fleshy bits she could reach. It would be remiss after all if the former commander of the Onmitsukidou could not effectively fight in both of her forms.

Meanwhile, Ichigo was too absorbed in his own battle with Ossan to care much about what Yoruichi was doing. After his initial attack he darted forward under Ossan's guard. He was too angry to care about the possibility of permanently maiming his zanpakutou spirit. He was determined to drag Ossan home with him bloody and beaten, and work out his intra-personal problems later. Shiro applauded this plan from within, egging him on.

Ichigo's Khyber knife slipped passed the trench knife Ossan was wielding but failed to strike home. At the last second, Ossan flipped the edge of his cloak momentarily wrapping the cutting edge of the blade and blunting the attack. A quick side-step followed, and Ossan lashed out with his blade. Ichigo barely got his own trench knife up in time to block the blow. The impact rattled through his bones. Maybe he should start training his fighting skills with Ossan too. He hit hard.

Ichigo quickly learned that with only the shorter of the two blades Ossan had a reach closer to Ichigo's own than a normal swordsman would have. This greatly lessened Ichigo's ability to slip inside his guard and fight from up close as had become his preferred method since coming to the past.

So he relied on speed. He disappeared from view and reappeared in Ossan's blind spot slashing out in the same move he had picked up from Byakuya all those years ago and had worked into his own style.

The only problem with fighting yourself is that you know all of your favorite tricks. As soon as Ichigo vanished from view Ossan used Hirenkyaku to step into the space that Ichigo had just vacated. Ichigo's attack only hit air.

Ossan turned to face Ichigo once more, fully expecting the boy to launch another attack while his back was turned in an attempt to catch him off guard. Then on the peripheral, behind Ichigo, there was a sudden flash of long purple hair and lots of cinnamon skin.

It is a proven fact that a naked woman appearing on a battle field is such a surprise that it halts all activity in line of sight. Even zanpakutou spirits are not immune to it's effects. And it cost Muramasa as he stopped to stare. The kidou enhanced kick that he took to the side sent him skidding across the ground to where he fetched up against a boulder. He lay there gasping for air.

Ichigo took the opportunity that Ossan's own inattention provided to pull a stunt that he had never tried before in his life. He pulled back, threw his trench knife and prayed. The knife thudded into Ossan's chest making Ichigo wince in sympathy. The blade was off center and not that deep. Honestly he was lucky that it didn't just bounce off a rib.

As Ossan reached up to remove the knife he charged up a Getsuga Tenshou, and it hit Ossan at point blank range while he was still trying to tug the knife out. With a surprised look on his face Ossan dissolved into reishi and disappeared.

A split second later panic set in. Ichigo reached inside himself. Relief washed over him when he got two responses. Evidently it was true that zanpakutou could pull themselves back together after being defeated.

__It will be sometime before I can manifest a spirit body,__ Ossan said. __But I am fine.__

__Did you really want to leave me?__Ichigo asked in a small voice. He could not get over the fact that it may have been his fault all along. No matter how many times he reminded himself that Muramasa was the one in control of Ossan.

_Once the spell Muramasa used hit, I questioned my place with you. It was a question of whether you needed me or not as you have accepted Shiro now._

_Why would you think that?_

He felt Shiro's presence cock it's head to the side and giggle. __Ya can't guess?__

Ichigo frowned. His hollow was getting way too much pleasure out of this, and Ossan was leaking embarrassment.

__Who ya run to when ya first got us back? Who ya wanna cuddle with when yer feelin' homesick. I mean irony abound, Aibou, usually yer supposed ta run away from monsters.__

Ichigo spluttered in embarrassment.__It was only the one time and you know it!__He yelled at Shiro defensively. Besides Ossan wasn't the touchy type. The other zanpakutou spirit had never even indicated he wanted...

A wave of embarrassment joined his own. __You mean, all you really needed was a hug? __Ichigo asked incredulous.

Ossan snorted.__Not a hug per say...__He trailed off into silence while Shiro just laughed at them both.

__Told ya, __The hollow sang childishly.

__I cannot believe this,__Ichigo said mentally face-palming.

Ossan cleared his throat. __Ichigo, we will need to speak more about this later. You need to focus on what is happening around you.__

When he did focus back on the world around him, he saw a black cat streak off through the trees and Muramasa was nowhere to bee seen.

"I must admit," A smooth voice said from behind him. "It took much longer than anticipated to track you down."

Ichigo froze and cursed inwardly. He turned around slowly. It figured that they would send him. He turned to see Aizen for the first time since he had come back. The man smiled at him from behind square frame glasses. The white haori of the Fifth Division fluttered in the wind. Aizen looked exactly as he did that day on Soukyoku Hill. Tousen, alive and well, was standing silently behind his right shoulder.

Ichigo dropped into a defensive stance and waited for one of them to attack.

"None of that, young one," Aizen said smiling even more widely. To an outsider it would look comforting, perhaps even encouraging. To Ichigo it was mocking. "It would be such a shame if we had to end this experiment right now. Especially when you have grown so much recently." So Urahara had been in contact with Aizen. Aizen knew everything. "Instead I have a proposition for you."

"Why would I listen to anything you have to say?" Ichigo spat. Tousen curled his lip and grabbed for his zanpakutou. Aizen only continued to smile benignly and spread his hands, simultaneously welcoming Ichigo to join him and blocking Tousen from attacking. "Because your family is very vulnerable right now, and you are the only one with the power to protect them."

Before Ichigo could answer another voice interrupted. "You have got to be kidding me."

The other Shinigami had caught up with the two taichou. "We have been run ragged all over the damn Rukongai for a kid?" Ichigo turned slightly to see several Shinigami standing a ways off waiting for orders. It was amazing that they had not heard the conversation thus far, but they were obviously oblivious to the threat their taichou had given him.

"I have everything under control here, Takeda-san. Please take the others and sweep the area," Aizen commanded.

"Taichou?" the Shinigami questioned.

"This child was taken hostage by a rogue. The rogue is still out there."

"Yes, sir," The man said and started to order the others to form groups and continue to search. There were many groans and grunts at this announcement.

Aizen turned back to Ichigo, positive his orders would be followed, but his tone changed with the arrival of the others. "It's alright, son. You can put your weapon down now. We are the good guys."

Ichigo wanted to cut that phony smile off Aizen's face. He chewed on his lower lip considering his options. Aizen continued to smile reassuringly for their lingering audience, playing everyone's favorite taichou. As though he had not just threatened to kill Ichigo's entire family. Ichigo lowered his arms in acquiescence, then sheathed his blades altogether.

Still smiling gently Aizen walked up and put his hand on Ichigo's shoulder. Ichigo fought the urge to jerk away. "Tousen, you head back to Seireitei and report. I am going to take this young man home, and perhaps recruit us a promising talent for the future."


	9. Chapter 9

I would like to thank everyone for their interest in this story, usually such deviant AU's like this one are kind of hard to take seriously.

In this chapter I indulged in something I have wanted to see for a very long time, Ichigo and Urahara sparing. It is a spar so neither of them is fighting at full power, but it is something that I have always thought was missing from the manga. I am not all that good at fight scenes but I hope you enjoy it anyway. TY

1

The Senkaimon opened down the street from the Urahara Shoten. Ichigo stepped out of the shoji doors onto the sidewalk beside Aizen. To say that he was a bit tense was an understatement. His palms were sweaty, and he was so wound up his hand twitched for his blades at every movement Aizen made as they walked to the Shoten.

Because of Ichigo's agitation Aizen removed his hand from his reiatsu concealing cloak and gripped his shoulder. It would have probably looked like a gentle reassuring hand to anyone watching them. Ichigo could feel Aizen's fingers clamped around his shoulder, a warning not to try anything. He kept as calm as he could and resisted the urge to reach up and break that hand. Even if he killed Aizen here there would still be the others: Tousen, Gin and probably Urahara. Then there was the problem of becoming a criminal of Seireitei for killing a respected taichou.

They entered the Shoten in short order. Aizen did not pause, merely nodding at Tessai who was at the counter minding the store while Urahara did Kami knows what in the back. Once they were in the back they could hear yelling. Ichigo recognized his mother's voice demanding to know why he had been sent to the Soul Society. He could not make out Urahara's response, but the man sounded unduly calm.

They walked in on a very interesting scene. Urahara had been backed into a corner. His hat was pulled low over his face, but Ichigo could see deep scratches on both his face and hands. Masaki stood in front of him, crowding him with her hands firmly planted on her hips. Yoruichi was at her feet poised to leap, tail lashing wildly.

Aizen stood behind Ichigo with both hands on the boy's shoulders and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. He tightened his grip to warn Ichigo not to try anything. "Urahara-san, it is so good to see you again." he smoothly interjected into the argument.

At the sound of his voice Masaki froze mid tirade. She whirled around to see who had interrupted her and gasped when she saw Ichigo standing in the doorway. "Ichigo!" She called stepping forward to reclaim Ichigo.

She was stopped by a hand on her arm. Urahara had caught her before she could cross the room. He pushed back his hat and gave her a warning look when she whipped back around ready to strike him. "Good afternoon, Aizen-san." He said more for Masaki's benefit than Aizen's. Masaki choked when she heard the name. The gentle looking man standing with her son in the doorway seemed too kind to have been the man who had plotted her death from the shadows.

"How have you been? It has been a long time, old friend." Aizen said forcing Ichigo further into the room.

"Not all that long." Urahara said stepping up to Masaki's side. If she died now on Aizen's whim Ichigo would never forgive him. "I do not believe you have been introduced to Kurosaki-san. You seem to have found her son for her."

Aizen bowed slightly. "Not formally. It is nice to finally meet you Kurosaki-san.

Masaki bowed just as slight in reply but chose to remain silent.

"Please sit. I will have Tessai bring some tea." Urahara said playing the proper host. Yoruichi shot passed Aizen after Urahara as he left the room, a black heat seeking missile on his heals.

"It truly is a pleasure to finally meet you, Kurosaki-san." Aizen said as he pushed Ichigo down onto a mat net to him. He gestured to the seat across from him. "Please sit." Masaki smiled tightly and sat but refused to say anything. They waited in uncomfortable silence until Urahara returned covered in more scratches than he had left with. Yoruichi followed, still in cat form tail twitching in agitation. The said on opposite sides of the table with Yoruichi glaring at him and Aizen alike.

"How are things in Seireitei?" Urahara said trying to break the ice that blanketed the room. Ichigo rolled his eyes at him.

"Things are well."Aizen answered still smiling pleasantly as if this were only tea with close friends.

"Well yes, I suppose they would be. Especially since you have finally caught Ichigo-kun. It took you much longer than expected." Urahara said avoiding Ichigo's eyes carefully. Ichigo glared at the man. He was up to something.

Aizen's smile froze on his face for a moment before he recovered and chuckled lightly. "He managed to find a way to hide from our trackers." He said. "We did not find him for three days. In fact, I just found him not an hour ago, in the North 68th district no less."

"North?" Urahara asked knowing full well he had put Ichigo in the West. He was impressed in spite of himself. "Well, I did tell you he was stronger than a normal Shinigami. You should have gone yourself to catch him in stead of sending your subordinates."

Ichigo watched fascinated as Aizen's eye began to spasm. He had to admit, Urahara had a way with people.

Before Aizen could reply, Tessai arrived with the promised tea. It was not until the tea was served that Aizen picked up the conversation again. "He is much faster than anticipated." He said sipping at his tea. "But recounting our little chase across Rukongai is not why I am here. I suggest you ask the boy for details later."

Urahara looked so disappointed by the words. "I suppose it can wait." He conceded. "Though I had assumed that you would be taking Ichigo-kun with you when you left."

"What?" Masaki gasped. "I wont let you take my son anywhere!"

Aizen smiled at her and let a bit of his true character slip through the mask. The brief menacing look was enough to pull Masaki up short. She stared at him wide eyed and he morphed back into the friendly looking taichou who had walked through the door. "You have no choice in this matter, Kurosaki-san. Your son has already decided that your life and the lives of his sisters and father are well worth spending some time in the Soul Society."

Masaki shut her mouth with a snap. This man had, oh so casually, threatened her entire family. He truly was terrifying. She bit her lip unsure of what to do next. Ichigo at least seemed more annoyed with the entire situation than anything else. He kept shooting Urahara withering looks that promised retribution as so as he had the chance. He was also keeping an eye on Aizen as if expecting an attack from that direction. It was very enlightening to see her son in a dangerous situation. For the first time she actually believed that he had the intellect of someone much older.

"There is no need for you to worry Kurosaki-san." Aizen said pulling her out of her thoughts. "I will take good care of your son. He will even be properly trained as a Shinigami."

"Why?" Masaki asked. "Why do this? Why our family?"

"I have always had an interest in Ichigo. It was an … interesting development that I decided to pursue. Now I will finally be able to observe his growth more closely."

Yoruichi, who had not taken her eyes from Aizen since entering the room growled. "Kisuke," She said eyes flicking between Urahara and Aizen, who sipped at his tea calmly a satisfied smile on his face. "Why are you being so friendly with him? You do remember what he has done to you, and the others?" She growled at Aizen once more. "Drop the act. It's annoying, and you aren't fooling anyone here."

Aizen frowned. "I am merely trying to extend some common courtesy. Surely even enemies can be civilized enough not to fight over tea."

Urahara pleaded silently with Yoruichi all through Aizen's chastisement. "Trust me, Yoruichi-san, this is for the best." He fanned himself idly before flicking it quickly in a secret code the two of them had been using since they had been children. Yoruichi blinked slowly at the code. (The boy is not worried. There is a plan.) She turned to observe Ichigo who was frowning at his tea cup.

Ichigo had yet to say anything at all since arriving. He was overcome with a slew of emotions at seeing his old enemy sane and well, or as sane as Ichigo had ever seen him. He had a suspicion Aizen had left sanity behind long ago. His immediate reaction was to fight; his second was the memory of the solitude he had felt from Kyoka Suigetsu. Fear for his family quickly followed but was quickly over taken by pity. Right now, Aizen had everything: admiration, prestige, a promising career, and even people who cared for him (ignorant as they were). And the man had never even realized it.

Everyone was looking at him now. He sighed heavily. He had hoped to fade into the background while the others talked. It wasn't as if he could do anything in this situation anyway, and if he could he wouldn't. Aizen was giving him exactly what he wanted: access to the Soul Society, opportunity to train, and access to Aizen himself. The only catch would be Aizen's reason for doing this. He Ichigo hoped Urahara had a clue, because he was at a loss on that front.

The only thing holding him back was the thought of everyone he needed to protect. He had to keep reminding himself that he had to think beyond Aizen. Ichigo nodded. "It's not all that bad as far as hostage terms go."

Aizen smiled. Ichigo saw the flicker of triumph in he eyes. There was definitely more to this than there seemed. "I am not a complete monster," He said. "I will wait and have Ichigo collected after his elementary school graduation. It will give you time to say goodbye and come up with an explanation for his disappearance.

Masaki huffed in annoyance. She had gained back some of her confidence as it seemed Aizen was not going to attack right at this moment. "I am not being given a chose in the matter, am I?"

"I am afraid not," Urahara answered before Aizen could say anything. "There may even be a way for you to keep in touch with Ichigo-kun while he is in Seireitei. I will make you a couple of special denreishiki so that you can call each other whenever you want." He grinned at Aizen. "It would go a long way toward easing Kurosaki-san's fears if they could remain in contact."

"Indeed." Aizen put his tea down and stood. "This concludes our business here, I think. Thank you for your time and the excellent tea, Urahara, but I am afraid I must get back to the division. Kurosaki-san it was a pleasure, Neko-san." He paused when her got to Ichigo. "I will see you in two months time."

Ichigo nodded declining to say anything. Aizen left leaving the four of them sitting at the table. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence Urahara spoke. "Alright, he's gone." He turned to Ichigo. "I assume your mission was a success?"

Ichigo reached into hi shihakushou and pulled out what used to be the hougyoku. He sat it down on thee table in front of Urahara with a loud clack. Urahara picked it up to examine it. He breathed in surprised that the hougyoku was just a pretty black marble now.

"You did it," Urahara said wonder evident in his voice. "I did not think it was possible."

Ichigo snorted, "You wouldn't have given it to me if you didn't think there was a chance."

"Perhaps," Urahara sat the marble down on the table.

"What exactly is that?" Masaki asked.

"This," Urahara said gesturing at the marble, "Was a very powerful object that could be used to break the barrier between Shinigami and hollow reiryouku. Now, thanks to your son, it is a pretty rock. Neutralizing it is why Ichigo-kun had been missing for these last three days."

Ichigo coughed suspiciously into his hand. Masaki frowned. It had sounded fairly close to "bullshit."

"You have something to say, Ichigo?" Urahara asked.

"You know that I would have only been gone one afternoon if you had not decided to take the opportunity to rearrange my life. You planned on Aizen catching me in Rukongai, didn't you?" There was not accusation in his voice. Ichigo was merely stating facts that Ossan had put together for him. He had come to the understanding that Urahara would rather work with him than against him at the moment. For what purpose, he did not know. But he did know that the damnably secretive man had very different goals from Aizen.

"I did," Urahara said. "It was the topic of conversation before you came in." He winced a bit at the memory. "The ladies did not appreciate my genius."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "And the zanpakutou spirit?" He asked.

Urahara blinked owlishly. "How did you figure that out?"

"I guessed," Ichigo deadpanned. He did not want to tell Urahara that the Quincy half of his zanpakutou was also a master manipulator, and had pointed out that random vengeful zanpakutou spirits didn't just appear in Rukongai for no reason.

Urahara shrugged completely unrepentant. "Muramasa-san was supposed to keep you in one place long enough for Aizen to catch up to you. Evidently Muramasa underestimated your power, and you found a way to hide from Aizen. How ever did you manage that?" Urahara asked. "I can sense your reiatsu from across town without any trouble."

"Yoruichi taught me a trick," Ichigo answered shortly. He didn't really want to go over the details of his adventure, but Urahara was being talkative. He felt that there was no reason to shut the man up by not answering his questions in return.

Urahara frowned at Yoruichi who managed a catty grin and purred happily back at him. Evidently she too enjoyed pulling one over on Urahara. "If everything went your way all the time, Kisuke, you would die of boredom."

"True," Urahara conceded.

Ichigo resisted the urge to punch Urahara in the face for his cavalier attitude. "Well, Muramasa decided that he would benefit more by kidnapping Ossan." He glared at Urahara.

"Oh my, I did not know he would try something like that." Urahara held up his hands in surrender. "Muramasa is an unfortunate case. He has been separated from his own wielder and now survives off of hollows that he consumes from Hueco Mundo. I told him I would help him out if he helped me out."

"What did you want him to do?" Ichigo asked.

"I wanted Aizen to take you to Seireitei and apprentice you," Urahara smiled. "Over the course of the past two years I have decided that you should have a more formal Shinigami education. You are very strong, Ichigo-kun, but largely untrained."

Ichigo gaped at him.

"But it is phenomenally difficult to sneak a young human boy with access to a powerful zanpakutou into Seireitei," He grinned. "So I convinced Aizen to do it for me. Or rather that it was his idea to bring you in and see to it that you are trained properly for the purpose of observation. Then I promised to help him convince you that it was a good idea as well." The other three at the table stared at him.

"Unbelievable," Yoruichi said into the stunned silence. "You've pulled some stunts in the past, Kisuke, but this... there are no words."

"Oh I'm sure you will have quite a few to say about it later," Urahara said with a satisfied smile still on his face. It always felt good when a plan worked out as it was supposed to.

Yoruichi shook her head speechless once more.

"Excuse me," Masaki said. "I realize that you are very proud of yourself right now, but you can't just send my son away without even asking me. What about his life? His human life?"

A brief look of consternation crossed Urahara's face. "Kurosaki-san, your son's life as a human ended with the Grand Fisher's attack. He is far too strong to stay here in the human world much longer. Surely you have at least noticed the effect he has had on his little sisters?"

Masaki drew herself up to argue, but there was not denying his words. She knew what he was trying to say. Karin was interacting with spirits as if they were human already, much as Ichigo did. Yuzu, while not as strong as her siblings kept asking who all the "fuzzy" people were.

"It will only get worse," Urahara continued gently. "And soon he will be affecting his class mates as well. Taichou and fukutaichou only come to the living world sparingly and with most of their power sealed for a reason. Even with our powers sealed Yoruichi and I still affect anyone unlucky enough to spend a great deal of time around us. Ichigo-kun is several times more powerful than that. There would be no containing his power."

Masaki bit her lip. What Urahara was implying was terrifying. Karakura already attracted more hollows than was normal. Adding to the number of spiritually aware humans would turn it into a buffet for hollows. "How bad could it actually get?" She asked.

Surprisingly it was Ichigo who answered. His hands clenched together on the table. "Everyone of my friends had high reiatsu, extremely high for humans. Two developed powers of their own. The others could easily see Shinigami and hollows at the very least, and all of them could withstand the reiatsu levels of a taichou."

"It is not that you are loosing Ichigo-kun. But he does have things that he has to do. It is my job to facilitate that," Urahara cut his eyes toward Ichigo. "As I can only guess at his plans, I can only assume that being in the Soul Society will help his endeavors."

"You are a terrifying man," Ichigo muttered. The only thing he could find wrong with Urahara's assessment was that he assumed that Ichigo had a plan to follow at all. He gazed at his mother silently pleading for her to understand. "Some things are going to happen in the future. In my own past I was central to these events. I have to do this."

Masaki looked at her son's determined face and sighed in defeat. "I guess asking you to live a normal life is too much." Her voice trailed off as tears slipped down her face.

Ichigo quickly rounded the table and hugged her. "I'm sorry, mom. I love you but I have to do this."

"I truly am sorry for the way this had to be done, but it was clear that you you would not have let Ichigo-kun go if you had a choice." Urahara said quietly. "I am only trying to do the right thing for both the Soul Society and the Human World alike. I meant what I said about keeping in touch with him."

"Kisuke..." Yoruichi trailed off when she couldn't put what she wanted to say into words. She did not know what her friend needed more: a hug or a sound beating.

Ichigo stood nodding to himself. "Alright Geta-Boshi, I will accept your help, but I can't let you be ambiguous in your intentions anymore."

"Eh?" Urahara said a little bit wary of the gleam in Ichigo's eyes. A little bit of Shiro's excitement was bleeding through.

"We are going to spar," Ichigo said walking toward the trap door to the training ground.

"Spar?" Urahara repeated.

"Yes," Ichigo looked over his shoulder at the shopkeeper. "You can't say you aren't interested."

Urahara followed after like an iron filing to a magnate. It was true that he had wanted to do this ever since he had brought the boy back to the shop after the Grand Fisher attack. He was half excited about finally being able to measure Ichigo's skill level and half wary of the boy's intentions.

"Ichigo-" Masaki started in her 'mom voice.'

"This shouldn't take long," Ichigo broke her off with an encouraging smile. This was something he needed to do, and he couldn't let her stop him. On the inside he was hoping that the did not turn into a serious fight. He really did like Urahara deep down -somewhere- and the man had fought with Aizen at his strongest without even using his bankai. There was no telling how strong he really was. If things got serious it could turn real bad, real fast.

Since he was already in his spirit form Ichigo didn't bother with the ladder and jumped strait down to the rocky terrain below. He stepped away from the ladder and Urahara landed behind him. Ichigo turned to see the blond with his zanpakutou drawn but still sealed. He was reminded sharply of his first zanjutsu lesson at Urahara's none too gentle hands. Urahara had not even been serious at the time and had had Ichigo running for his life. Ichigo drew his blades. This time there would be no running.

"Shikai from the start?" Urahara asked in a low voice.

Ichigo shrugged. What would be the point of sealing a blade for a fight if it was constantly released anyway. "Zangetsu hasn't been sealed since I learned their name." And the swords both hated being sealed when it came down to it. Ichigo had brought it up when it came time to figure out how he would carry his dual blades. He had been treated to a three hour screaming lecture from his hollow half that had predictably degenerated into a fight. Ossan had been no help what so ever, choosing tho let Shiro make their point for him. Ichigo had not brought it up again.

"I assume there is no way to talk you two out of this?" Yoruichi asked dryly. She sat back on her haunches and looked disapprovingly from Urahara to Ichigo.

Masaki joined them at that point having taken so much longer because she had had to utilize the ladder. "I certainly hope there is," She said as she straitened her skirt.

"No, there isn't," Ichigo said. He leaped further out into the training ground away from Yoruichi and his mother, both of who seemed ready to continue arguing their case. This fight had the possibility of turning explosive even if they did not go all out. He did not want to hurt either woman.

He stopped far enough away that he thought any flying rocks would not reach them. Ichigo turned to face Urahara. He knew that Urahara would wait all day for him to make the first move, so he did not wait. As soon as he heard Urahara's clogs crunch the gravel Ichigo vanished from view.

In response Urahara threw up a kidou barrier between them. It was a tall rectangular section of condensed energy. Urahara had not uttered one word. That in itself surprised Ichigo more than the barrier.__Everyone___, _even Aizen,who had used kidou against him had at least said the name of the kidou.

Ichigo hit the barrier feet first and bounced back to regroup. It seemed that Urahara had deduced that Ichigo was primarily a melee fighter from watching him practice and had not intention of letting the boy get close. Ichigo cursed under his breath. The whole purpose of this spar was to cross blades with Urahara and read his intentions through Benihime. Now Urahara was making things difficult. If Ichigo did not know that this was a spontaneous idea he had had on the spot, he would say the man was keeping him at a distance on purpose.

As the barrier dissipated Urahara lifted his hand and cast a wordless Juugeki Byakurai. The red light shot toward Ichigo out of Urahara's fingertip, more akin to a laser than any natural lightening. Ichigo saw the hadou coming, heard his mother scream, and still did not move an inch.

__It is easier than you think to force Urahara to fight you melee.__Ossan had told him while he was cursing Urahara for being uncooperative. __Once he realizes he cannot win this fight from a distance, he will try to finish it with a surprise attack meant to disable you. It is in that moment that you need to counter.__

The hadou hit him full force in the chest knocking him back a couple of meters. Urahara could put some punch into his kidou. Even though the low level kidou would not have broken through his hierro, his blut vene was an automatic response to getting hit now and unseen the blue veins writhed across the skin of his chest. He didn't even feel what would have been a very painful burn without it.

"You know," Urahara said suddenly. "Most would make an effort to dodge an unknown hadou cast by a kidou master."

Ichigo shook his head. "I could have dodged that, but I knew it wouldn't hurt," He replied simply to Urahara's surprise. While Urahara was trying to wrap his head around Ichigo shrugging off an unknown hadou, Ichigo brought up his trench knife and flicked his wrist. A nameless red and black Getsuga Tenshou flew at Urahara. Urahara's eyes widened slightly before he threw up another barrier that managed to stop the blast but not without cracking.

"Hadou 31: Shakkahou!" This time Ichigo was thrown back through a large boulder. His blut vene hierro combination prevented any significant damage from the hadou, but the front of his kosode was smoking when he climbed out of the rubble.

Urahara raised an eyebrow as Ichigo stood to face him once more. No doubt he had already guessed how Ichigo was countering his kidou, but he still seemed impressed that Ichigo was standing and ready to fight. "You seem to be able to shrug off an incredible amount of damage, but you are woefully inept at at kidou to not have tried to counter with it. Most would have used bakudou to counter instead of revealing their trump card."

"I don't know any kidou," Ichigo said offhandedly while trying to figure out what trump card Urahara was talking about.

_He means the Getsuga Tenshou, idiot. __Shiro supplied. __He thinks that's the most we can do in shikai._

"How remiss of your teacher to overlook that part of your training."

Ichigo laughed out loud. "That would be you." It was a bit of a fib as he had had more than one teacher, but Urahara had been the one to tell him that teaching him kidou would be a waste of time.

Urahara pulled up short, surprised at having insulted himself. "Well, at least I am trying to rectify that now," He said sheepishly.

Ichigo did not respond with words, instead he charged up a more powerful Getsuga Tenshou with the Khyber knife.

Urahara shunpoed out of the way as an arch of black-red light passed through the spot where he had been standing. "Nake, Benihime!" Ichigo spun around as Urahara's red reiatsu filled the corners of his vision. The shopkeeper had unleashed his own wordless energy attack simultaneously with the activation of shikai.

Not saying the name of the attack defiantly weakened it, but Ichigo was not about to test Benihime's power head on. He did the only thing he could think to do at the last second. He ducked under the red energy and channeled his own reiatsu into his blades. Both blade's crossed. "Getsuga Juujishou!" He yelled. The blast was much stronger than he had intended but he had lost himself to his instincts as soon as Urahara's reiatsu had blinded him to his surroundings, and he forgot he was not on an actual battlefield.

"Chikasumi no Tate!" Urahara said. A red hexagonal shield appeared between Urahara and the Getsuga. The flash of light as the two collided blinded everyone in the training ground.

__That must have hurt him,__Ichigo thought.

__It would have if he had still been there. He's gonna strike again. __Shiro warned.

Ichigo sensed movement on his left. He brought up his trench knife just in time to block. He felt the jolt of pure physical force behind Benihime as their blades crossed. Ichigo used Urahara's own momentum to spring off the blade to gain some distance.

For the first time since the fight began Ichigo wanted that distance. In the split second Zangetsu and Benihime clashed, Ichigo was inundated with feelings. Usually a skilled fighter would narrow their world down to one intention that was channeled though their blade and into their strikes. For some undefinable reason Urahara seemed to be able to channel many intentions at once. It made sense. Urahara was a very complicated man, of course he would have many reasons to fight.

First and fore most there was curiosity. This spar was as much of an experiment to Urahara as it was a fight. Ichigo was being tested. The only other emotion he could clearly read in that one second was determination. All the rest flowed through him without leaving an impression.

__That enough? __Ossan asked.

__No. __It was not enough. There was more to learn; he would continue.

Ichigo brought his attention back to the fight. He was surprised to see Urahara had not moved. The man stood stock still with a strange look on his face. He seemed to be waiting for Ichigo to recover.

"Shibari, Benihime!"

__Or not. __Ichigo thought as a second later a red net of condensed reiatsu took shape over his head and began it's decent. He shunpoed quickly, even for him, out of the way. It seemed Urahara was finally game to take him seriously. That was even better; it would make his intentions clearer.

Urahara thought that he had had Ichigo that time. He had decided after that last demonstration of power to end the spar as quickly as possible before one of them got hurt. He had tried to trap and pin Ichigo down to force him to yield. He had not expected Ichigo's reaction time to be almost nil.

Urahara felt a displacement in the air behind him on his left. It was almost an exact replica of the move he had pulled moments before. For the record, an advanced hohou practitioner could use shunpo for micro movements in stances to enhance attack or re-position for a better defense. The trick was not to tie your legs into a knot, literally. Urahara used this advanced technique to side step and turn to face his opponent and flick his wrist.

Ichigo, who was expecting a block whizzed through the space where Urahara had been. His confusion did not last long as he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and saw the reiatsu net that had been left on the ground, despite being a constant drain on Urahara's reiatsu, flying at him in another attempt to capture.

Instinctively, Ichigo leaped strait up, six meters. He stood on condensed reishi in the air and cursed out loud. How the hell was he supposed to read Urahara's intentions through his zanpakutou if the man refused to use any zanjutsu.

__He is trying to wear you down, __Ossan said. __It has been a long time since you have rested. You are supposed to be ___**_tired_**___, Ichigo.__

The emphasis his zanpakutou put on tired confused Ichigo. Yes, he had spent the last three days in the wild, had just been through a nerve wracking tea party, and started an impromptu spar with a captain class Shinigami – also the most devious man alive or dead-, but Ossan knew he could take a lot more than this, and usually demanded that more of him.

He felt Ossan's annoyance at his ignorance. __It is commendable that you are such a strait forward and honest person.__The spirit said slowly as if explaining a new concept to a particularly slow student.__But deception is just as much a part of battle as fighting, and Urahara expects you to be tired. You can use that against him.__

__What? Oh! __Ichigo finally got it. Ossan wanted him to pretend to be tired to get Urahara to lower his guard. __Sounds kind of dishonest and dishonorable, don't you think?__

He heard the smack of a face palm.__Carry on then.__

Before Ichigo could ask, Ossan did not seem the type to express himself in such a way, Urahara attacked again. Ichigo barely had time to duck under the strike that would have knocked him clear across the training field.

He caught himself and punched up into Urahara's unprotected stomach with his trench knife. The blade was turned away from flesh at the last second. He heard Urahara grunt, but he did not go flying as he had expected from the force of the blow. How had Shiro managed to throw him across the room anyway? The man was a rock.

Ichigo finally got what he wanted in the end. Urahara brought up Benihime for another strike and Ichigo attacked it with both of his own blades. Screw defense. He wanted this fight over with. Sparks flew as the zanpakutou clashed.

"Getsuga Juujishou," Ichigo growled. A blast of energy flung Urahara back and away. He had not put much power into the Getsuga, so he was not surprised when the dust cleared, and Urahara was unharmed, a few meter's away, minus the hat.

"That is enough for now," Urahara said sealing Benihime. "If we continue things will get serious."

Ichigo nodded in agreement and sheathed Zangetsu. Both of them dropped to the ground. Masaki swooped in as soon as Ichigo hit the dirt and gathered him into a fierce hug. She did a quick pat down to make sure he was not seriously injured. Once she was sure Ichigo was alright she pulled back to look into her son's eyes.

Ichigo accepted all of this in a detached manner. He was too absorbed in what he had learned about Urahara. Much of what he felt through Benihime was pure calculations. Calculations for attack and defense and even probabilities of success. Urahara covered all possibilities when he fought. Ichigo couldn't even begin to contemplate being able to do the same. But there was no ill intention at all. Only a fierce loyalty that supersede all other ties that Urahara had. To what, Ichigo did not know.

"Did you wish to continue?" Urahara asked gaze intent. Without his had in place his earnest expression was disturbingly easy to read.

"No," Ichigo said. "We're good."

Urahara nodded as if he had just had a theory confirmed. "Okay," He said with a smirk.

"What was all that about?" Masaki asked standing to face Urahara.

"It's just Ichigo being surprising again," Yoruichi said with a yawn. "You get used to it." That seemed to be all she wanted to say on the matter. Ichigo shrugged deciding to play the uncooperative teen.

Urahara sighed and stepped in to explain. "I was skeptic at first. Usually only masters of zanjutsu can do it. But Ichigo-kun is able to read someone's intentions, what drives them, when he crosses blades with them." His eyes never left Ichigo during his explanation. "I think, he was trying to find out if I am trust worthy."

"I do trust you," Ichigo answered the unspoken question.

"I thank you for that."


	10. Chapter 10

I want to apologize in advance for not writing out the whole revised version of Ichigo's story by Yuzu in this chapter. It is so funny in my head, but I know myself pretty well, and it would take far too long to update if I got into retelling the whole thing. So feel free to pick up the plot bunny in the cardboard box by the front step if you want it.

1

The month and a half before Ichigo's graduation from elementary school flew by for Ichigo. He did end up being grounded for his small trip to the Soul Society, and he could not come to the shoten to train anymore. Urahara protested vehemently on the grounds that they needed to plan out how Ichigo was going to handle himself in the Soul Society under Aizen's watchful eye. Ichigo suspected that it was mostly because Urahara saw the conclusion to their spar as the green light to interrogate him for even more information about the future, seeing as how Urahara usually liked to leave everyone in the dark, including those he was working with.

Urahara lost that argument spectacularly when Masaki proved her aim was as good as any Quincy's and pegged him in the throat with her tea cup. But Urahara refused to give up. He even went as far as later calling the Kurosaki household to argue his case from a safe distance. He only calmed down after the first night Ichigo knocked on the shoten door demanding access to the training grounds.

Ironically, Ichigo did not get in trouble for the fighting at school, even after two more house calls from his homeroom teacher. At first Ichigo thought his mother had forgotten about the fighting in all the excitement that had happened afterward. Until he found out that Isshin had been grounded as well, so to speak. Ichigo tried not to think about it and concentrated on ignorant thoughts, while Shiro took a sick pleasure in teasing him about his parent's healthy sex life. Sometimes he wondered about himself.

Between school and late night visits to Urahara's Ichigo made as much time for his sisters as he could. He played with them and even told them some highly edited versions of his adventures. These became a family favorite as both Masaki and Isshin listened with interest to how their son's life could have been.

He ended up telling them the story about how he and his friends broke into Seireitei to save Rukia – Princess Yuki, once Yuzu learned about her zanpakutou and what it could do. Isshin nearly had a heart attack hearing about that little move. Ichigo told about how Princess Yuki had been sentenced to death for helping the Strawberry Rounin -Yuzu's influence again- save his family from a deadly "youkai" not a hollow. Yuzu argued heavily over this point on the grounds that if Shiro was a hollow then hollows couldn't be bad, no matter what Ichigo had to say about the matter. Ichigo had not realized it until the end. - "And each were finally reunited with their true love."- But Yuzu had turned the whole event into a fairy tale, love story. Later he found out, to his absolute horror that she had started writing 'Princess Yuki hearts Strawberry Rounin' on all of her school folders. His parents thought that it was cute. Isshin teased him mercilessly about when he was going to be able to meet his third daughter.

The day of Ichigo's graduation was tense for the whole family. Everyone kept expecting Aizen to jump out and grab Ichigo without warning. Ichigo himself was completely underwhelmed by his graduation and half way through the speeches began to daydream about just that. Despite all of his fighting he had graduated at the top of his class and had to wait for everyone else to receive their diplomas before he could make his escape from the stage.

It was not until a day after the graduation that Ichimaru Gin knocked on the front door. Isshin was the one who finally opened the front door after waiting long enough for Gin to assume they were making a break for it and almost broke the door down.

Isshin peeled back the door slowly and planted himself between Gin and the inside of the house. He remembered Gin from his time as a taichou as an unpleasant man to be around. The silver haired man was dressed in the Third Division haori with a dark reiatsu concealing cloak thrown over everything.

"Evening Shiba- taichou. It is so good to see you doing so well," Gin greeted with his usual knife edged smile.

Isshin frowned. His whole body tensed, ready to fight. He cursed the fact that he could not do anything without endangering himself and his young family. Gin could kill them all at any moment, and the man knew it.

"I am no longer a taichou, Ichimaru, you know that," Isshin growled instead of punching the smiling man in the face like he wanted to.

Gin's snake like smile only widened. "Actually they decided to label you Missing In Action after the investigation. So, officially you were never stripped of your title. Isn't that nice?"

Isshin didn't answer. He tried to stare Gin down, but the man only kept smiling. After a moment Gin cocked his head to the side. "Aren't ya gonna let me in? It's rude ta keep guests waiting outside, ya know? I even Knocked an' everythin'."

Isshin grunted and stepped aside. Gin entered the Kurosaki household and looked around in interest. It was the first time he had been inside a modern human household. They did a fairly good job of copying any new technology that humans came up with, but they always over looked something. He resisted the urge to poke around. Then frowned when he saw that the room was empty of people.

"Where's the boy?" Gin asked thinking that they had pulled a fast one, and the kids and woman had escaped while Isshin distracted him.

"They took the twins upstairs," Isshin said quickly assessing the sudden change in demeanor. "Ichigo said he had every intention of going to Seireitei with you."

"Smart kid," Gin commented. "It's not a good idea to oppose Aizen-sama."

"Openly at least," Ichigo said coming down the stairs. He watched Gin carefully for his reaction to the words. Gin did not disappoint. He cracked his right eye open flashing a bit of blue.

"Dangerous words for a lil' brat, don't ya think?" Gin said evaluating Ichigo. The kid didn't look like much in his opinion, but Aizen was interested in him for a reason.

"Aizen knows I am going to be working against him. There is no reason to waste energy pretending otherwise," Ichigo said standing in his spirit form in front of Gin. He had left his body upstairs in his bed. "It figures that he would send you."

"Oh? Why is that?" Gin found it interesting that the kid was not put off by his appearance at all. Gin usually terrified small children. Aizen had said that there were some interesting developments in the boy over the past couple of months.

Ichigo shrugged declining to answer. He wondered if he could lead Gin over to his side. He already knew the man was plotting for the perfect time and place to betray Aizen and have his vengeance.

"You know you would make a better evil overlord than Aizen. You look the part." The words were out of Ichigo's mouth before he could censor them. But it was what he had been thinking ever since he had first seen Gin at the West Gate of Seireitei when Gin had attacked Jidanbou, the gate guard, and effectively kept Ichigo and his friends from entering the city.

There was a beat of silence where Isshin nearly swallowed his tongue in shock. His son seemed to have no concept of fear or good sense. The latter was probably his fault if he was being truthful with himself.

Gin was so surprised at Ichigo's words that it actually showed on his face. Then he laughed. "I like you, kid," He said. "We'll get along great." Gin morphed back into his smiling, creepy persona. "Now say goodbye to your family and hurry up. I don' wanna spend all day here."

Ichigo grunted. "I already said goodbye to mom and the twins. They really don't need to be exposed to you."

Gin reached out an ruffled Ichigo's hair. Ichigo glared at him through mussed bangs. He was sick of people doing that to him. Gin only laughed and messed up his hair even more. Ichigo ducked out of reach and rethought his plans to acquire Gin's help. It might be too annoying to be worth it.

"Let's go then." He drew Shinsou, and used it to part reality and open a senkaimon to the Soul Society. The shouji door appeared and opened to reveal a white light.

"Ichigo,"

Ichigo turned at the sound of his father's voice. Isshin stopped unsure of what to say. He had thought he would have a few more years to write out and practice a script for when his eldest son left home. Right now he couldn't even come up with an embarrassing joke. "Take care of yourself," He finally said. "You're supposed to out live me."

Ichigo tilted his head to the side hearing the faint echo of the advice his father had given him before in one of his few serious moments. A small smile spread across his usually scowling features. "I will," He said, and because he wasn't the hugging type he turned and walked through the senkaimon before he could embarrass himself. He heard Gin giggling behind him anyway.

Half an hour later they stepped out in the bright sunlight of Seireitei. Ichigo had always enjoyed traveling through the official senkaimon over Urahara's. The senkaimon that Urahara made were- stressful. He looked around but did not recognize the white buildings closest to him. Most buildings in Seireitei looked the same to him, but he was sure he had never quite seen this pattern of buildings before. There were several rank and file Shinigami bustling about doing who knew what. Ichigo watched them and wondered where they were.

"Come on, kid," Gin said making Ichigo scowl more than usual. "Aizen-taichou's office is this way." With that he walked off at a quick pace.

Ichigo used a quick step of shunpo to catch up and set his pace so that he was walking beside Gin. He flat out refused to be seen running after the annoying man. Gin was worse at treating him like a kid than Urahara had ever been. He saw Gin glance at him out of the corner of his eye, a thoughtful expression on his face. So Gin had been told about some of Ichigo's abilities, but was still surprised to see it confirmed.

Many of the Shinigami stopped to stare at the young boy with the Third Division Taichou. The wondered out loud about Ichigo as the two of them passed. Ichigo automatically regulated them to the category of people who were more interested in him than he was in them and consequently ignored them.

Gin led him up to the second floor of one of the largest building, away from the curious on lookers. The wooden boardwalk creaked under their feet highlighting the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between the two.

Gin suddenly stopped in front of a shouji door much like the others they had passed. He tapped lightly on the door and waited for a response.

"Come in," Aizen's voice drifted out from the other side of the door.

Gin wasted no time opening the door and leading Ichigo inside. "Hello Aizen-taichou. I brought ya the boy like ya asked."

Aizen looked up from the paper work on his desk and gestured for Ichigo to enter. "Thank you for your time, Gin. I'm sure you have your own division to see to."

"Aww, I was hopin' ta play a bit with out little Ichi-chan. Ichigo spared a glare for the new pet name Gin had just christened him with. The infuriating man only grinned wider giving the eerie impression that his smile was trying to wrap itself around his entire head.

"Gin," Aizen said pointedly. He gestured at the door.

"Right, playtime later," Gin said mild disappointment seeping into his voice. He exited with a jaunty wave and a last "Goodbye Ichi-chan."

Once the door was firmly closed Aizen dropped his benevolent taichou act put aside his ink brush and paper work with a slight sneer of distaste. "Kurosaki," he said more to assert authority than to get Ichigo's attention. Little did he understand the uphill battle he had ahead of him in that regard. Ichigo only stood silently opting not to do or say anything. It worked on Urahara. He saw no reason why it wouldn't work on Aizen. "I understand Urahara's reasons for foisting you off on me. That man is very good at getting others to do the dirty work for him." Which was absolutely true. "What I don't understand," Aizen continued. "Is your reasons for venturing out into Rukongai."

Ichigo flinched. If Urahara had not seen fit to tell Aizen the real reason why he had gone to Rukongai, it would be a safe bet that it would be a bad idea to tell him the truth now. The problem was that Ichigo wasn't a very good liar. He was much better at stoic indifference. So instead of answering he stared Aizen down in silence. It wasn't all that hard to do really, even with imposing figures like Aizen. Ichigo just stared at his forehead and counted the wrinkles of frustration as they popped up. Aizen was up to four.

Aizen eventually folded his hands under his chin and broke the silence himself. "Not going to say? Urahara implied that it was all your idea."

"Urahara implies a lot of things," Ichigo growled promising the shopkeeper much pain the next time he saw him.

Aizen chuckled. "You know him quite well it seems. Urahara told me that you were from the future and not to underestimate you. I am not entirely sure that he is telling the truth. You do realize that if this is some elaborate joke of his, your life is forfeit."

Ichigo scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. He reminded himself that leaving Aizen in a bloody heap in his office was not good relations with the rest of the Gotei 13.

"Zangetsu is not proof enough of that?" He said with a challenge in his voice.

Aizen laughed out loud at the response. "Well, you certainly are no longer the weak willed mama's boy you were the last time I saw you. As for being from the future, we shall see. I will, of course, need to know why you were in Rukongai to begin with. I will not be accepting 'Urahara made me do it' as an answer. And I would remember if I were you that the well being of your family relies on your answer."

Ichigo felt white hot anger lance though his veins. If Aizen kept threatening his family damn the consequences. All they would find of the man was a blood smear and a few collapsed buildings. Shiro seized his anger and suddenly the hollow was looking out from his eyes. Aizen must have seen it as he sat back in surprise, and what Ichigo hoped was a touch of fear.

"I wanted to come to Seireitei; Urahara helped me because he wanted me to be trained properly." Ichigo took a deep breath and shoved the hollow back down into his inner world with the silent promise of later.

Aizen cleared his throat. "I see. You think that with a little training you can defeat me?" He asked with a condescending smile. "You would trust Urahara and his plans that much?"

Ichigo huffed in response. He questioned Urahara about a million times a day, but he wasn't about to rant and rave about Urahara's mercurial nature to Aizen of all people.

"We used to be friends you know, Urahara and I. It was only after we graduated from the academy that he began to understand his true position as my subordinate. Then he showed his true colors. His lack of faith in me."

_What the hell? _Ichigo thought. _Why even tell me that? And is it even true?_

_That is unknown, but the point is that he is trying to throw you off balance. Your and Shiro's response to his threats unbalanced him a bit. He is returning the favor. Right now you need to be thinking up a believable lie for being in Rukongai. Don't let him distract you. _Ossan supplied taking it upon himself to coach Ichigo through the meeting.

"So why don't you tell me the truth," Aizen said. "Surely I am no harder to trust than Urahara is."

Ichigo cursed inwardly. Aizen knew he was evading the question and had no intention of letting Ichigo out of this office until he got an answer. "I was looking for the Shibas," He blurted out. Hopefully Aizen would believe that one. He couldn't come up with anything else.

Aizen considered his words. "Why ever would you be looking for that rabble?"

Ichigo thought he should probably defend his family from the insult, but he had met his cousins before and then there was his dad. Rabble was a fairly accurate description. "They are my family. Why wouldn't I go looking for them?"

Aizen studied him silently evaluating his answer. Testing the words for a lie. "I will accept that answer for now. It explains why that particular cat was with you." He pulled a seemingly random bunch of papers from one of the stacks on his desk. "For now we have an appointment that we cannot miss." He handed the paper to Ichigo. "Read that."

Ichigo took the papers. It was a report. Specifically, it was Aizen's report on tracking him through Rukongai. It was several pages in length. Aizen was very detailed in his observations. Ichigo scanned a couple of lines.

_The boy seems to be a singularly talented young man who seems to have achieved shikai on his own. Tousen-taichou and I found him in the company of two men, one of which the boy killed and the other who ran when he saw us. It would seem they decided to kidnap him because of his zanpakutou..._

"Once we are done here," Aizen said, "We will be going to see the Sou-taichou so that you can give your own report on what you experienced. I am sure I don't need to tell you that it needs to match up with my own report on the matter. And please do a better job of evading questions from the Sou-taichou than you did here with me."

Ichigo snorted. "After we are done here?" Ichigo repeated. The interrogation was just getting started it seemed.

"No need to look like that," Aizen said gently though the cruel smile on his face said that he enjoyed watching Ichigo squirm. Ichigo resented the fact that he was playing right into Aizen's hands. It made him feel more like a puppet than a human being. "For now I am merely going to inform you of what will be expected of you while you live here at the Fifth Division."

That was unexpected. Aizen actually had plans for him that didn't include a routine mission gone horribly wrong and possibly a new unknown hollow. The near permanent smile on Aizen's face fell when Ichigo did not react. What was the man expecting exactly?

"You will be expected to obey myself and my fukutaichou. Hinamori Fukutaichou will be the one seeing to your daily needs. If you have any questions or concerns please speak to her. As you can imagine, I am much too busy to see to you myself. But do not think that you will just be able to lounge around all day. You will be expected to attend regular lessons."

"You actually intend to teach me?" Ichigo interrupted.

"Yes, I will be teaching you kidou personally. Urahara said you were untaught in that area. I intend to remedy that. After all I cannot have my young apprentice fail in an area that I excel at," Aizen said.

Apprentice. Ichigo's face scrunched up like he had bitten into a lemon. He would be damned if he ever called Aizen master. It would be a small miracle at this point if he stuck to calling him Aizen. And what was his game exactly. This looked way too good to be true.

"All right, I can do that," Ichigo said reluctantly. Maybe it was too early to rule out death by unexplained hollow after all. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. This meeting was taking more out of him that he had thought, and he still had the Sou-taichou to talk too. Couldn't he just beat the crap out of Aizen yet? "Let's get this meeting with Yamamoto over with."

2

Ichigo would like to think that he was not at all intimidated by Yamamoto Shigekuni Genryuusai, but he would admit to being thoroughly impressed by him, under torture. The First Division fukutaichou, Ichigo could not remember his name, led them into Yamamoto's large office. The old man sat, back absolutely straight, behind his desk. Age and wisdom rolled of of him in waves. Aizen stopped in front of the desk and bowed to his superior. Ichigo followed suit after a beat.

"Aizen-taichou," Yamamoto greeted. "You requested a privet meeting with me?" He looked pointedly at Ichigo.

"The boy is what I wanted to speak with you about, Sou-taichou. I brought him along as you may want to hear his version of what happened in Rukongai."

Yamamoto cracked open his un-scarred eye and settled it on Ichigo. Ichigo felt Yamamoto's reiatsu roll over him, barely a brush or a test. Both of Yamamoto's eyes opened further when Ichigo did not immediately fall to the ground struggling for breath.

"I see," Yamamoto said. "That is his zanpakutou?" He asked nodding at Zangetsu.

"Yes sir," Aizen answered. "He is an exceptional find. He has officer level reiatsu and has achieved shikai with no training at all."

"Hn," Yamamoto grunted. "That is what the academy was created for. If the boy is as talented as you say, he should be joining the first years and not standing in my office. Why do you assume that I will make an exception for this one?"

Aizen frowned at the thought of Ichigo being so far away from his influence. "With all due respect Sou-taichou, he is thirty years old, forty at best. The academy will not take anyone under the age of sixty. I would hate to loose such amazing potential because he would be considered too young and fragile for the course work. Let me train him for a few years, and then he can go to the academy before joining the Gotei 13."

By this time Ichigo was getting annoyed. Fragile indeed! He was not going to let two old men plan his life for him without some input. "Excuse me," he interrupted. Both men turned to look at him Aizen was obviously angry, and Yamamoto surprised that Ichigo had dared speak up. "I do not like being talked about as if I am not present."

"Insolent little thing aren't you?" Yamamoto growled. "I don't know what Aizen-taichou has been telling you, but achieving shikai is only part of being a Shinigami of the Gotei 13. Above all you need discipline. A young cur from Rukongai who cannot control his reiatsu enough to even seal his own zanpakutou has no place among even the lowest of our elite military." Yamamoto refocused his attention on Aizen clearly finished with Ichigo.

"With all due respect sir," Ichigo ground out trying to keep control of his temper. "Zangetsu does not enjoy being sealed and complains loudly about it every time I suggest it." Yamamoto grunted at this but did not say anything. "And I do know that achieving shikai does not guarantee me a place among the Gotei 13. That is why I am here to learn and not still in Rukongai."

Yamamoto opened his eyes briefly intensifying his reiatsu to the point of being fatal for anyone below taichou level. Aizen broke into a sweat, but Ichigo continued to stare calmly at Yamamoto. After a moment Yamamoto reigned in his reiatsu and made his decision. "Aizen-taichou, if you are willing to do this foolish thing, the boy will be your full responsibility. Any transgressions the boy commits will come back on you." He focused once more on Ichigo. "What is your name boy?"

"Kurosaki, Ichigo," He answered immediately. He didn't need to poke the sleeping dragon any more than necessary.

"Kurosaki, Ichigo, you will not officially be a part of the Gotei 13 until you have graduated from the academy and have proven yourself worthy of that honor. There will be no extenuating circumstances to this decision. It is pass or fail." His gaze slid over to Aizen. "I will not have another Kenpachi situation on my hands."

Ichigo almost laughed out loud at hearing this. He had never really thought about all the political problems Kenpachi would have caused by killing a taichou and taking over a division with no leadership experience whatsoever. It must have been a nightmare.

"You will be held to the standards of a Shinigami officer, while you are training with Aizen-taichou." Yamamoto continued. "You will be expected to comport yourself with dignity and uphold the honor of the Fifth Division and it's captain. Failure to do so will have you sent directly to the Maggot's Nest. I am sure you are well aware as to why."

Ichigo bowed his head thinking, no longer on the defensive. Yamamoto really expected a lot from him. "Yes sir."

Yamamoto nodded and pulled a blank sheet of paper toward him. He picked up his brush and dipped it carefully into the ink. "Good. Now, Aizen-taichou also said that you had your own version of the events that took place around your kidnapping. I have read the reports of everyone involved. I would like for you to give your own version of what happened starting with the reiatsu surges that alerted us to the problem."

"I don't know anything about the reiatsu surges, except that they were purple/black in color and powerful," Ichigo lied and mentally crossed his fingers. "But it was after that that Muramasa surprised my friend and I-"

"Muramasa?" Yamamoto snapped clearly agitated. "Are you sure that was his name?"

"That was the name he used."

Muramasa was known to the Sou-taichou. That was interesting.

"What did he look like?" Yamamoto asked wanting to confirm his suspicions. Ichigo described Muramasa for him. As the description went on Yamamoto became more grave. "What did he say to you?" He asked.

Ichigo shrugged. "Only that my zanpakutou was interesting, and he wanted Zangetsu to join him in some kind of revolution."

"So he took both of your zanpakutou spirits to further his cause?" Yamamoto asked, and Ichigo jumped. He had not said that Zangetsu was two spirits. He wondered if the old man could read minds.

"Kurosaki, two of my own students wield dual zanpakutou. Of course I would know what that meant. I would consider it very strange indeed if you only had one spirit for both blades."

"Oh," Was all Ichigo could say to that. "Well, he only got one of them."

Yamamoto's bushy white eyebrows traveled up his forehead.

"One of them is very -argumentative- and does not like to submit to anyone. He fought whatever Muramasa did to him."

"The other would have been the more logical spirit then."

"Yes," Ichigo said puzzled as to how Yamamoto would know that.

"No need to look so surprised, young one. I know the zanpakutou Muramasa. An irrational attachment to between zanpakutou and wielder is about the only way to to overpower Muramasa's technique initially. What about the other man that was said to be there as well. Do you know who he is?"

"That was Zangetsu," Ichigo said.

"I see..." Yamamoto changed the subject. "How did you get from West Rukongai all the way to North Rukongai?"

Ichigo debated briefly before deciding to tell the truth. "I ran." Eyebrows go up. "Aizen-taichou called it shunpo."

"I can see why he is so eager to teach you." Something in Yamamoto's gaze told Ichigo that he knew he had previously had a teacher of some kind. "You followed Muramasa on foot?"

"Well, he took Zangetsu through a portal of some kind. I had to track them down."

"How did you track them?"

"Spirit threads."

"Hn, And three teams with two taichou in charge took three days to chase you down," Yamamoto finished clearly dissatisfied with his men's performance.

A tick mark appeared on Aizen's forehead. "I may have miscalculated the boy's skill level at first, Sou-taichou. Everyone was surprised to see Ichigo there."

Yamamoto ignored him. "Two unrelated incidents by the boy's story? I think not. We need to find out what Muramasa was doing before he ran into Kurosaki. There will be a meeting in one day's time." Aizen bowed slightly in acknowledgment. Yamamoto turned to Ichigo. "Not bad for your first report, Kurosaki. You no longer need to concern yourself with this matter. We will hunt down the rogue zanpakutou, and you will never have to see him again."

Ichigo's eye twitched. So they were going to cut him out of the loop. Aizen must have sensed that he was about to say something because he felt Aizen's vice-like grip on his shoulder once more. He was pulled back from Yamamoto's desk.

"Is that all you needed Sou-taichou?" Aizen asked squeezing hard.

"For now," Yamamoto said jotting down notes on what Ichigo had told him.

"Yes sir," Aizen said bowing before all but dragging Ichigo out of the office.


	11. Chapter 11

1

Once they were outside the First Division Aizen let Ichigo go. Ichigo rubbed his aching shoulder were there were sure to be bruises later. The meeting had gone about as badly as Ichigo had figured it would. Yamamoto knew without a doubt that he was lying. Ichigo wondered why the old man had not called him on it, or Aizen for that matter.

"Little fool," Aizen said in a low harsh voice as they walked. "What went through your head that made you decide to challenge the Sou-taichou?"

"I already said: I hate being talked about like as if I am not in the room," Ichigo answered simply. The truth was much more complicated than that. He could never sit and listen to Yamamoto without speaking his opinion. He respected the Sou-taichou, but respecting him and understanding the reasons for why he did the things he did were two different things. Accepting Yamamoto's actions was an even less likely third thing. Ichigo could not let the decisions Yamamoto had made in his past stand unchallenged, and he was not going to this time around. The old man had made far too many mistakes and had nearly gotten everyone killed twice. For all Ichigo knew, before he had been sent back everyone would really have died. It was something else he owed Urahara in the long run.

Aizen sighed exasperatedly and pinched the bridge of his nose. The boy just didn't see that he had almost ruined several plans carefully laid over the course of centuries. "Annoying brat," Aizen muttered under his breath.

"Hey, I'm pretty sure Yamamoto knew that I was lying in there," Ichigo said suddenly, oblivious to Aizen's inner turmoil. "Doesn't that bother you?"

Aizen raised an eyebrow. "I knew you were a terrible liar when I brought you to see him."

Ichigo twitched. It was one thing to admit that he was bad a lying and another to have Aizen say so.

"It does not matter in the long run," Aizen explained. "Yamamoto will be too late in any move he makes to have much effect. The point is that he knows that__you __are lying. He knows that __you __have something to hide. By contrast, I do not. Needless to say, I have full authority to watch over you. And I will be watching you, closely. As long as Yamamoto's suspicion remains on you..."

Aizen did not need to finish the sentence. Ichigo understood perfectly. He was being used as a distraction. It made him feel like such a fool. Aizen smiled at his as they continued walking back to the Fifth Division.

Ichigo was beginning to have second thoughts about his ability to handle Aizen's manipulations. He wasn't the type to deal in secrets and lies, and in Aizen's case illusions. Ichigo was much more comfortable with rushing in and overpowering any and all obstacles that got in his way. He kept trying to remind himself that doing so was a bad idea. He had made far too many mistakes rushing into battle before.

On one hand, he could just kill Aizen now. It would be so easy at this point in time. Aizen wasn't an immortal being with more power than was healthy for him. He wasn't lost in the madness that they Hougyoku caused in him. Right now he was a Shinigami, a smart manipulative, evil Shinigami but still a problem was that Ichigo needed the Gotei 13 to trust him when Yhwach made his move. He could not kill Aizen before he revealed himself a traitor, and expect Yamamoto and the others to listen to him when he told them that the Quincy's they thought were long dead were going to kill the Soul King and destroy all three worlds.

__Ichigo,__Ossan said firmly. Ichigo pulled himself out of his spiraling thoughts. __Calm down. This challenge will be no more difficult than any other you have faced.__

__No more difficult? __A small, bitter laugh escaped him. Aizen paused at the seeming non-sequitur, but Ichigo kept walking. His body was working on autopilot as it always did when he was conversing with his zanpakutou in the real world. __I have to try to convince the Shinigami that the world will end if they don't listen to me. They lock people up in the living world for saying crazy things like that. Why should it be any different here? Heck, considering Yamamoto's track record I'll be lucky if he doesn't have me executed.__

__It will be no more difficult because when the time comes you will not be the one to tell Yamamoto of Yhwach. __Ossan answered smoothly.

__I wont___?_Ichigo asked now completely confused. Who else was going to tell them? Urahara?

__No, I will be the one to tell him.__

Ichigo stopped walking, his mind now fully engaged by his zanpakutou. He vaguely saw Aizen wave his hand in front of his face as Ossan continued to speak. __Yamamoto at the very least will recognize me for who and what I represent. He knows about the Quincy prophecy as well, though he chooses not to believe in it. I can convince him to ready the Gotei 13 for war and not the peace they will expect after Aizen's fall.__

__What about all the damage Aizen will cause.__Ichigo pointed out. __They had barely recovered the last time before the Quincy's attacked.__

__Then that shall be one of our goals: to minimize the damage Aizen will cause with this plans.__Ossan answered.

__How?__

__Firstly, the empty taichou positions were the worst of the blows. I would work to save Gin from Aizen now that you know his ultimate goal is to kill him.__

Ichigo nodded, seemingly at nothing making Aizen frown.

__And Ichigo, __Ossan said. __I am able to draw on Yhwach own experience in manipulation. If you need help navigating Aizen and Urahara's plots you should ask me.__

__You think you can do that?__Ichigo asked still skeptical.

He felt Ossan smile. __I had you believing that I was your zanpakutou long before I actually was, and I had the hollow convinced that it was for the best.__

__Your point is made, __Ichigo said dryly. He could hear Shiro growling at Ossan's choice of words.

__Of course he leaves out the part where it was all my idea,__Shiro griped.

_A___ny ideas on how to deal with Aizen? __Ichigo asked ignoring Shiro. He was eager for a second opinion on that particular situation.

Ossan thought for a moment. __The best thing you can do in this situation is give them what they expect.__

__What do you mean?__

__Everyone in Seireitei will know about the child prodigy Aizen has adopted by night fall.__Ossan answered.

__So?__

__Break it up into smaller pieces for him. __Shiro advised. __He's great at fooling himself but not so much others.__

Ossan counted to ten. His wielder's sincerity was very endearing most of the time, but in this game it would be their biggest obstacle. __They expect a talented young child. You will have to act like a child as you have, mostly, in school in Karakura.__

__So you want me to act like a little kid?__

__You don't have to lie, Ichigo. Just allow them to assume that what they see is the truth.__

__Oh... okay.__

Ichigo was pulled back to the outside world by the sound of snapping fingers from right under his nose. He crossed his eyes and scowled at the offending digits.

_"_Do you have any medical maladies I should know about?" Aizen asked once he realized that he had Ichigo's attention. "This is the second time I have caught you staring off into space. Is it some kind of seizure perhaps?"

Ichigo snorted. "I was just talking to Zangetsu," He said.

Aizen laughed softly, "I remember when I was eager to speak with my zanpakutou as well. But you should not let the spirit distract you in that way. Not paying attention to your surroundings could get you killed one day."

"Zangetsu wouldn't let that happen," Ichigo said in defense of his blade. He unconsciously touched the hilt of his trench knife in silent support.

Aizen snorted derisively. "I am going to give you a bit of advice. Don't listen too much to what your zanpakutou says. They are merely warped illusions of their wielder driven by your deepest desires. A zanpakutou spirit would have you believe that they are separate, sentient beings, but they are not. They are merely a tool to be used to access your full potential as a Shinigami, nothing more. And even that potential can only take you so far."

Ichigo swallowed hard. Aizen's words disturbed him on a fundamental level. How could he say something like that? There were time when Ichigo knew he would have died if not for Zangetsu, both of them. Not trusting in Zangetsu was completely against the relationship he and his zanpakutou had painstakingly built.

_Scratch that trust building exercise with Yamamoto and let's kill him now. _Shiro burst out angrily. The hollow sounded mortally offended by Aizen's words. Ossan, on the other hand, did not say a word, but then he never did when he agreed with Shiro. He would speak up in an instant if his opinion differed, but it seemed that even if they shared the same soul a Quincy would never willingly agree with a hollow.

"You're wrong," Ichigo said to Aizen. He wondered what Kyoka Suigetsu thought of Aizen's opinion.

Aizen smiled thinly, "I am never wrong." He began walking once more forcing Ichigo to hurry up to keep up with him.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. This was a prime example of denial. "I'll let Urahara tackle that statement. He's better at it." Aizen glared at him. "But what about Muramasa then? I doubt his wielder wanted him to do what he is doing right now."

"I would not be so sure of that, boy," Aizen answered primly. "You need to study the history of that particular zanpakutou before jumping to conclusions. Tell me: why do you think that zanpakutou are separate beings from their wielders?"

"What?" The question confused Ichigo.

"It is the other viable theory at Shin'ou Academy," Aizen said dropping unconsciously into lecture mode. "I might as well start your education now rather than later. So why should zanpakutou be considered separate entities when they themselves will tell you that they are a part of your soul?"

Ichigo really did not understand this man. At one time he had thought he knew all of Aizen's motivations, but that was in another world as far as this Aizen was concerned. One minute Aizen was belittling and threatening him, the next he was lecturing him on zanpakutou philosophy. How much, exactly had the old Aizen deteriorated from his former self?

Ichigo shook his head to clear it of unanswerable questions and instead thought of everything he had experience with Zangetsu and everything Ouetsu Namaiya had taught him. Between his zanpakutou violently asserting his ability to take over and live Ichigo's life and Ouetsu's multiple zanpakutou- "You wouldn't understand." He said finally.

"Oh? And why do you believe that?" Aizen didn't even look angry at the remark. It was eerie.

"You don't believe that I am a separate entity that could stand without you because of the circumstances of one of your experiments led to my birth. How could you think any differently about something created within your own soul?"

"An interesting stand on the matter," Aizen said thoughtfully Ichigo peered up at him. Was Aizen actually considering what he had said?

Shiro chose that time to ruin the moment. __That was deeeep.__

Ichigo sighed heavily. Ever since they had come back to the past and Ichigo had become more dependent on his zanpakutou's opinions Shiro had become more and more his own personal peanut gallery.

__It was a compliment, __Shiro grumbled.

Back at the Fifth Division a young woman in a standard shihakushou and her hair pulled back in a tight bun accosted them outside of Aizen's office.

"I am so sorry, Aizen-taichou. I know you wanted me here to greet our new guest, but the Shinigami Woman's Association meeting ran long and Rangiku wanted to-"

Ichigo stopped listening to the long winded explanation for the girl's tardiness and studied the girl herself instead. From the way she was speaking and the badge she wore on her upper arm she was Aizen's former -present- fukutaichou Himomori,or something like that. Ichigo had never actually met the girl, but Toushirou and Rangiku had been very worried about her for a long time after Aizen revealed his true colors.

Ichigo was struck by how normal she looked. He was not exactly sure what he had been expecting, but he had come to the conclusion a long time ago that the elite Shinigami were an odd bunch to say the least. This girl looked was too normal to be a part of that group. Unlike all of the other taichou and fukutaichou he knew you could plunk her down in any high school in Japan and immediately loose her- unlike a certain group that had tried, and failed miserably, to do just that.

Aizen smiled indulgently at the girl, "It's alright Hinamori-chan. We have just returned from our meeting with the Sou-taichou. You are just in time."

The girl, Hinamori evidently, beamed at Aizen. She seemed happy enough with the assurance and the accompanying pat on the head, but Ichigo felt outrageously offended for her. The poor girl was so infatuated with her taichou that she had no idea he was patronizing her.

"Hinamori-chan, I would like you to meet Kurosaki Ichigo. He is the one who will be staying with us until he is old enough to enter Shin'ou Academy."

"Oh," Hinamori said putting her hand to her cheek. "He is much younger than I thought he would be."

Aizen laughed out loud. "Don't let his size fool you, he is a very surprising young man."

"If you say so Taichou," Hinamori said skeptically. She turned her attention to Ichigo completely unfazed by the scowl marring his face. "It is nice to meet you, Kurosaki-kun. I hope we can be good friends," She bowed politely.

Ichigo bowed back equally polite. "It is nice to meet you," He said gruffly still miffed at her reaction to seeing him for the first time.

"Hinamori," Aizen said redirecting her attention back to him. "Kurosaki-kun is a very special case. He is more than powerful enough to join the Academy first years, but is much too young to be accepted." He continued all seriousness. "The Sou-taichou is going to allow me the privilege of teaching him as opposed to having him disappear in Rukongai, where we may never find him again. We need to show him the best of the Fifth Division. I want you to help me look after him and teach him what he needs to know in order to become an asset to the Gotei 13."

Hinamori nodded ever eager to please her taichou. "Yes, sir," She turned back to Ichigo. "Well Kurosaki-kun, let's get you settled in then." She said gesturing for Ichigo to follow her.

Aizen nodded to the both of them and leveled a look at Ichigo that clearly said "Behave." Ichigo glared back but nodded grudgingly. Then Aizen was suddenly gone slipping away almost unnoticed, as if he had shunpoed into his office.

Ichigo blinked at the empty space that Aizen had been occupying before following after Hinamori wondering how in the world the girl could be so blind. It was true that his own view of Aizen was tainted by facts and events that the girl couldn't know anything about, but Hinamori should have at least caught on to how condescending her precious Aizen-taichou was toward her. He treated her like a dog after all. Ichigo shook his head. He didn't know much about what had happened to her after Aizen's defeat. He just hoped that she was not a lost cause.

"So Kurosaki-kun," Hinamori said suddenly as they distanced themselves from Aizen's office. "What district did you live in before Aizen-taichou found you?"

Ichigo wracked his brain trying to remember which district Aizen had found him in before giving up. "I'm from one of the middle districts originally, but I have been traveling a lot." He heard Shiro face-palm at his answer.

"Huh, I thought Aizen-taichou had to go to your home and talk to your parents for permission to bring you to Seireitei," Hinamori said confused.

Ichigo began to sweat. "Well, obviously I was traveling with my family," He amended turning red in embarrassment at his slip up.

"Huh..." Hinamori seemed to accept his explanation. Or at least she decided to change the subject. "I know Aizen-taichou said that I wasn't late. He is far to kind. But Obviously they had enough time to find you a shihakushou that fit. I am sorry I kept you waiting."

Ichigo chewed on his lower lip in frustration. This girl was just so... How did she even handle the responsibilities of a fukutaichou? "Actually my mom made this so that I could play like I was a real Shinigami," He said remembering the Shinigami who had accused him of just that. He still cringed at how juvenile it sounded.

Hinamori giggled, "Well, she did a really good job. But the swords are way too much. You must have quite the imagination to come up with such a unique a dual shikai form."

Ichigo quickly went from congratulating himself on telling a successful lie to a sulky pout. This was also the second time he had been accused of creating a fake shikai. "This is my zanpakutou in shikai," He snapped.

"Eh? Really?" Hinamori squealed. Suddenly more interested in his zanpakutou than she had been, eyes traveling up and down both blades. "That really is a very elegant form. It looks dangerous."

Ichigo heard Zangetsu thank her. He stopped to question what they thought they were doing. __We ain't you, Aibou. When a girl complements our form we ain't gonna sit there like a slowly roasting lump, __Shiro scoffed. Ichigo bristled at the implications of that comment.

__Pass on our gratitude, Ichigo. __Ossan added before an argument could start.

_"_Zangetsu says thanks," Ichigo deadpanned, not at all pleased with his zanpakutou at the moment.

"Your welcome," Hinamori said with a bow actually addressing the zanpakutou instead of Ichigo. "Such talent you have," She said to Ichigo eyes shinning. "No wonder Aizen-taichou wants to teach you. He is always going out of his way to help special students. Ichimaru-taichou comes to mind. He finished the academe curriculum in a year. Have you met him yet?"

"Yes," Ichigo said shaking his head. He could do without all the Aizen worship. "He is kind of creepy," He added as an after thought. He remembered how much gin had scared Rukia. Ichigo assumed it was a normal reaction no matter who you asked.

"Hehe, he kind of is at fist, but once you get used to his sense of humor he is really nice. He always brings Aizen-taichou and me some of his dried persimmons after they ripen. Have you ever tried persimmons?" Hinamori asked.

Ichigo was busy trying to wrap his head around the fact that he seemed to be talking to a teenage girl in a high ranking military position to answer right away. "Um, no. I have never been that adventurous with fruit," He answered finally.

"That's too bad," Hinamori said sounding far more sincere than the situation called for. "I'll have to save you some next time he brings some by."

"Okay?" Ichigo asked rather than stated. He was still trying to catch up with the conversation. How had they gone from where he lived to fruit? Ichigo had not spent much time talking to normal girls his age. He did not see any of his friends as normal exactly. Was this even how normal girls were supposed to act?

"Here we are!" Hinamori's upbeat exclamation pulled Ichigo from his musings on girls. "This is really supposed to be a guest room, but we hardly ever use it. I figured we could set you up here instead of the barracks with everyone else."

"I-uh- thank you. This is more than I expected." The room they were standing in was very plain, almost completely bare. A small desk and chair sat against one wall while an old wardrobe crowded the opposite. There was nothing else in the room but a lone potted plant on the window sill.

"You're welcome," Hinamori said brightly pleased that he like the room. "There's a futon in the wardrobe, or if you want we can put in a western style bed later. And you can redecorate anyway you want- as long as you don't go painting on the walls." Ichigo wondered where that particular stipulation had come from. "Do you need time to settle in?"

"I don't have anything to unpack," Ichigo said in a daze. "And I don't have any money to use to redecorate."

"No worries, you will be getting a weekly allowance that you can spend on whatever you want," Hinamori said beaming.

"I can't take charity," Ichigo said abruptly. More importantly he couldn't take Aizen's charity.

"Kurosaki-kun," Hinamori's voice dropped a full two octaves and became much more forceful. She sounded possessed. "You will be training and living with the Fifth Division. We wont let you live in poverty while we are responsible for your well being. That would make the division look bad." Ichigo gaped at her. For a minute there the sweet bubbly girl that Ichigo had met turned into a monster scary enough to chase Grimmjow under the bed. "Now then," Hinamori said clapping her hands and dispelling the menacing atmosphere. "Let's get to the mess hall and get you something to eat."

"Okay," Ichigo replied dumbly. It was becoming his favorite word. Ichigo followed Hinamori to the mess hall. She definitely was not what he expected. It was also quite obvious that she was insane.

They entered the mess hall just as dinner was ending for much of the division. Only a few people lingered over their meals. Ichigo could feel their curious eyes following him.

"This will be where you can get most of your meals, unless you wish to eat out. There are a lot of great places to eat around the Fifth, and the largest shopping district in Seireitei is only a few blocks away."

Ichigo ate his meal while listening to Hinamori describe the daily life of the division. The girl talked the whole time. The only way he could tell she was eating at all was that there was conspicuously less food on her plate every time he glanced at it.

"You will need to come to my office tomorrow, so I can brief you on your schedule," The hyperactive fukutaichou told him as she led him back to his room after dinner. "My office is right next to Aizen-taichou's, on the right. Just come by after breakfast and knock on the door." Ichigo nodded absently at her rambling. He was very worn out. "Oh and Kurosaki-kun, I have some time off coming up, and I can take you on a shopping trip to buy some things for your room."

"Okay."

It was defiantly his new favorite word. He had learned during dinner that Hinamori would accept it as an answer to almost any question.

They made it back to his room. "Good night, Kurosaki-kun," Hinamori said waving casually before disappearing suddenly just as Aizen had.

Ichigo backed slowly into his room eyes scanning the now empty hallway. What exactly had he missed? He closed the door and readied his futon for bed. He plopped down on the futon completely exhausted. But he still had two more things to do before he slept.

He reached into his shihakushou and pulled out the denreishiki Urahara had given him. He called up the only number in the contacts and pushed the call button. It hardly got through one ring before his mother's voice was on the other end.

"Ichigo!" She sounded worried.

"Hi mom," He said.

"Ichigo sweetie, are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," Ichigo said trying in vain to sooth her fears.

There was a moment of silence on the phone before his mother spoke again. "What happened?"

"I met with Aizen and Yamamoto, then I was shown to my room and the mess hall," Ichigo said casually.

"Yamamoto?"

There was a quick scuffing sound and then his father was on the line.

"He took you to see the Sou-taichou?" His father demanded.

Great now goat-face was worried too. It said a lot about Yamamoto that Isshin was more afraid of him than Aizen. Knowing Goat-face it had to have a lot to do with insubordination and general lack of refinement.

"Yeah, evidently Aizen asked the Old Man to let him apprentice me and Yamamoto wanted to meet me," Ichigo told Isshin.

"Why would he do something like that?"

"How would I know what that crazy megalomaniac is thinking? I'm more afraid of my kidou lessons than Aizen's endgame."

Another long pause from the denreishiki and then, "I was talking about Yamamoto."

Ichigo shrugged automatically before he remembered that he had to answer out loud. "I don't know that either, Oyaji."

There was another scuffle for the denreishiki and he thought he could hear his father whimpering in the background when he heard his mother's voice again. "Ichigo, where are you now?"

"I'm in a guest room at the Fifth Division."

"So you are safe?"

Ichigo thought about that. He was not in any immediate danger, but in the long run he was in the middle of one of Aizen's plots. He decided that it was a pretty safe bet to shoot for normal, or as normal as he could make it sound. "Yeah, I'm fine. The fukutaichou is really nice, and she is going to take me shopping on her day off so that I can buy some things for my room."

"That sounds nice," Masaki said not sure how to take the situation. "We miss you."

"Miss you too mom," Ichigo replied and he really did. He had been attached to her side for a much time as he could afford because he had missed her for so long. But he had slowly come to the realization that he didn't __need__her, and he hadn't for a very long time. "I love you mom."

"I love you too, sweetie," Masaki said. "It's late. You should probably get some sleep. To day could not have been easy for you."

"Okay," Ichigo yawned at the reminder of just how long the day had been. "Good night."

"Good night," Masaki said. He could hear Isshin's yelled "Good night, son," in the background. The denreishiki went dead.

Ichigo really was tired and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. He yawned again. __One more thing,__he thought silently. Though when he was this tired was probably the worst time to talk to Urahara. He had enough trouble keeping secrets from the man when he was fully awake.

He listened to the faint sound of static. "Geta-boshi? You there?"

"Why yes Ichigo-kun. However did you know?" Urahara's voice drifted out of the speaker sounding faintly surprised and a bit garbled.

Ichigo snorted. "You give a pair of special custom made denreishiki away, for free, and __don't __listen in on the calls?"

Urahara chuckled. "Ah, we will make a master spy of you yet. But try not to say too much right now. Aizen cannot hack my denreishiki to hear what I say, but you are most certainly being watched."

"You are probably right," Ichigo said frowning. The more Urahara spoke the more it sounded like- "Did you by any chance get hit in the jaw recently?"

Urahara groaned in answer. "You would not believe how mean she can be, Ichigo-kun," He whined.

"Who?" He thought briefly of his mother socking Urahara in the face.

"Yoruichi-san of course," Urahara said with a weak laugh. "She said that my little stunt with Muramasa opened her eyes to the fact that __we __were getting lazy, and __we __were no longer at the top of our game, so obviously __we __need to spar often and violently, so that __we__ are prepared to fight when the time comes."

Ichigo burst out laughing. Each and every "we" dripped with irony and resignation. He laughed again when Urahara clicked his tongue and whimpered when it made his jaw throb even more.

"That's what you get for lying to her," Ichigo said smugly.

"So mean," Urahara whined and then became serious. "Things are going pretty much as planned, and now you are in the perfect position - Ichigo, your mission, should you choose to accept-"

"Geta-boshi," Ichigo burst out exasperated with the man's antics. Even a sore jaw didn't stop him. Now he understood the true reason for keeping Urahara away from pop culture or pretty much anything that would make him more annoying than usual. And here Ichigo ignorantly thought it was because the mad scientist would most likely blow up a city block trying to create a real warp drive. "Stop playing around, or I'll tell Yoruichi you are pirating American movies."

"Sorry, sorry," Urahara said quickly. Ichigo was sure the blond was sweating. "I need you to try to find out what Aizen's plans really are."

"Easier said than done."

"Yes I know, but still you will have to try your best," Urahara paused. "But I have to know one thing now. Just answer yes or no. Does Aizen know you have destroyed the Hougyoku?"

Ichigo considered the question. Aizen had not given any indication that he knew, but he was one of the few who could recognize the reishi of the Hougyoku from the bursts in Rukongai. "Highly likely."

"Hm," Urahara said thoughtfully. "I will have to find a way for you to communicate freely. It may take me awhile. I will contact you then."

Ichigo yawned unperturbed. Urahara would have something ready by the end of the week. "Good night Geta-boshi."

"Good night Ichigo-kun," Ichigo hit the end call button with his thumb and stuck the denreishiki back inside his shihakushou. With another jaw breaking yawn he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

1

Ichigo was left to his own devices for the first week. Aside from working out a schedule with Hinamori, he spent most of his time exploring the Fifth Division and the surrounding area. He had even started looking for Rukia or even Renji in a round about way. But as it turned out Seireitei was much larger than he remembered it being, and all the streets looked the same. He got nowhere near the Sixth Division in all of his wanderings. He later found out that he had been wandering in the wrong direction.

As for the Fifth Division itself, the first thing he noticed was the lack of people. A great many of the offices were empty, so were the training grounds and recreation rooms. Even in the mess hall during meals there were fewer Shinigami than he had expected.

"Where is everybody?" He asked Hinamori at breakfast one day. She made it a point to eat every meal with him so that he would not be lonely. That was how she saw it anyway.

"The Sou-taichou really wants to catch that zanpakutou that kidnapped you. Aizen-taichou volunteered the Division for the first rotation of the search," Hinamori explained. "Some are away on other missions, of course, but most of them are combing Rukongai along with the Sixth Division looking for Muramasa," She frowned down at her breakfast. "I'm sorry, Ichigo-kun, I shouldn't have brought him up."

"It's okay," Ichigo said with a shrug. He wasn't bothered at all. Hinamori seemed to think that he was more sensitive than he actually was. "I want to know what happens with Muramasa," Ichigo said truthfully.

"But Aizen-taichou said not to bother you with the details. It must have been a traumatic experience for you," Hinamori said softly. She truly looked dejected. It made Ichigo feel very uncomfortable. He shifted in his seat.

Ichigo could not deny that almost loosing Ossan to on one of Urahara's hair-brained schemes had been a traumatic experience, but that didn't mean that he didn't want to know what happened to Muramasa. He automatically recounted the presences in his soul as he had started doing since the incident.

It still amazed him sometimes that Hinamori thought that he had been the one taken by the zanpakutou. Aizen really was an amazing liar. "I would rather know the truth. I know that Aizen means well," He paused surprised that he did not choke on those words. Aizen and meaning well went along together like ice cream and cyanide. "But I didn't grow up in a sheltered home." He hesitated then asked something that had been bothering him for awhile. "What exactly will happen to Muramasa when he gets caught?"

Hinamori carefully sat down her chopsticks and met his eyes over their meal. "There is a standing order from Central 46 to destroy the zanpakutou Muramasa."

Ichigo paled, "But...why?"

"Oh Ichigo-kun, you are so compassionate. Muramasa is a very dangerous zanpakutou. His ability to turn another zanpakutou against its wielder scares many of us. I mean, can you imagine having to fight your own zanpakutou to the death?" Hinamori looked sick at just the thought.

Ichigo stayed silent. He knew very well what it was like to fight against Zangetsu, both of them, and much of it had been before Muramasa.

"And there was the fact that his wielder Kuchiki Koga was a traitor to the Soul Society." Hinamori went on when Ichigo did not answer her. "The old order said to destroy the zanpakutou and bring Koga back to be tried for treason if at all possible."

Ichigo jerked in reaction to what she said. Aizen had warned him that he should not assume a zanpakutou wanted something its wielder did not. Had that been the "Revolution" Muramasa had been talking about? The one that Kuchiki Koga had started so long ago.

"Kuchiki?" He asked once he caught up to his brain. A relative of Byakuya was a traitor?

"Oh, you wouldn't know about them, being from Rukongai and all. They are a very powerful noble family."

"I do know about them. The Kuchiki's are one of the five Great Noble Families." Ichigo scratched his head. "I heard they were all sticklers for law and order. What exactly did he do to be named a traitor?"

"Where do you hear these things?" Hinamori asked with a smile and a shake of the head. "I always end up explaining about the Noble families to the Rukongai graduates."

Ichigo flushed. He needed to watch slips like that. "You hear things. But anyway, what did a Kuchiki do to get himself into that much trouble. The Five Noble Families are all but untouchable, right?"

Hinamori whined. "Most of them like to think so, but the Shiba's weren't untouchable, and the Kuchiki's got lucky with Koga. He had married into the clan and was not of Kuchiki blood.

"How did he betray the Soul Society?" Ichigo prompted not wanting to get into an impromptu lesson on clan lineage and power.

"That's a disturbing story. Evidently, when he was in charge of putting down a rebellion in Rukongai, he killed some servants of three other nobles under his command. After he was arrested he escaped and killed the nobles themselves," Hinamori said. "It just didn't make any sense to me."

"What doesn't make sense?" Ichigo asked.

"Killing the nobles. He admitted to killing the servants in self defense. I looked up the transcripts," She said with a nervous smile. In the notes they say he went to kill the nobles to finish the job."

"What job?" Ichigo asked wondering if those transcripts were supposed to be accessible to the public. Hinamori was acting very strange about it.

"Exactly. But it is what happened after that that is the most disturbing."

"There's more?" Ichigo asked fascinated. He had completely forgotten about his meal.

Hinamori glanced around to see if there was anyone close to their table before continuing. "He disappeared into Rukongai and started killing random people and talking to himself about some kind of revolution. It is said that he wanted to cleanse the Soul Society."

"So, he snapped. Weakling."

"Ichigo-kun! Be nice. He was obviously set up."

"Then cracked under the pressure of being on the wrong side of the law and went insane," Ichigo argued. "I don't fault him for going after the nobles. They were probably the ones who set him up. But going around killing innocents is just crazy." He shook his head.

"He was a Kuchiki. Even if it was by marriage, they would have helped him. He should have gone to his clan," Hinamori shot back. "Going after the nobles himself like some vigilante was the wrong thing to do."

"He had every right to go after them himself. Kuchiki Koga was a man and it was his duty avenge himself and clear his name," Ichigo said. He certainly would have gone after the nobles who had had him set up as a murderer.

"Yeah, well men are stupid," Hinamori said crossing her arms with a superior sniff.

Ichigo threw up his hands. Clearly Hinamori was not going to agree with him on that point. "Never mind. What happened after that? I mean they did catch him right? Or is he still out there?"

Hinamori sighed letting the argument go. "The Kuchiki clan head took care of it. There are no records of what happened besides the division report that says Kuchiki and the Sou-taichou sealed Koga, and that he was no longer a threat." She stabbed at her food with her chopsticks. "In my opinion the whole thing was a mess."

Ichigo stared at Hinamori in shock. There was some carefully concealed rebellion in the girl. "But if Koga was sealed, how did Muramasa escape?" He asked. Ichigo wondered if Central 46 ever took a trip down memory lane to decipher who was going to attack Seireitei next by looking at who they had tried to kill or oppress in the past. Ichigo was beginning to see a pattern there.

"No one really knows. A seal should have immobilize both the zanpakutou and it's wielder. But a zanpakutou that can manifest itself at will is so rare that there are only a few instances in the history of the Soul Society. No one knows what they are really capable of."

"Like possession of the wielder's body," Ichigo muttered under his breath. Shiro giggled sheepishly.

"What was that?" Hinamori asked.

"Oh, nothing," Ichigo answered wondering if the hollow really could have taken over his body permanently.

__Every human has the ability to become a hollow, Aibou. Even you___. _Shiro snickered at him.

"Okay, let's talk about happier things then. Today is your first kidou lesson with Aizen-taichou. Are you excited?" Hinamori said smiling impishly. She seemed to think personal lessons from Aizen were some kind of treat. How could she seem so smart one moment and then so dumb the next, Ichigo wondered.

He had nearly bitten through his chopstick when she brought it up. The irony in those two sentences stung his sensibilities a bit. There were hundreds of things he would rather be doing than learning kidou from Aizen, such as fighting Kenpachi to the death, spending quality time with his dad, or submitting to one of Nel's bone crushing hugs.

"I am kind of nervous about that," He admitted.

"There's nothing for you to be afraid of," Hinamori assured him. "Aizen-taichou is a very good teacher."

There were so many things that Ichigo would have liked to say about that statement. Instead he settled on his other reason for not wanting to learn kidou as Hinamori was sure to scoff at the idea that her beloved taichou was an evil bastard. "It's not Aizen. I'm not sure I can learn kidou. I have problems controlling my reiatsu let alone my reiryouku."

"Don't worry," Hinamori giggled. "It's not so bad. When you are first starting out you can't put enough reiryouku into a kidou to make more than a puff of smoke."

Ichigo laughed uneasily. This girl had no idea who she was talking to. "I can actually do more damage on accident than most people on purpose," He said.

Hinamori cocked an eyebrow. "Anyway," She said, voice dripping with skepticism. "Let's get going before you are late, Aizen-taichou appreciates punctuality after all." She sang while rising from her seat with her tray. She actually skipped to the disposal area.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. She just wouldn't understand how silly she acted whenever Aizen came up. It was almost as if the man were a railroad spike driven into her prefrontal cortex. Her entire personality changed and not for the better in Ichigo's opinion. He followed her to drop off his tray before leaving for the training grounds.

They walked past a courtyard where some Shinigami were practicing their morning drills. Ichigo watched them while keeping Hinamori in his peripheral, so he could keep up with her. She was moving fairly fast at this point. As he studied the the practicing Shinigami he realized all of their moves were very basic.

"That's the new squad," Hinamori said when she noticed where his attention was. "You will be joining them soon. Not that you have to fight them at all. Don't worry about getting hurt. You can just observe if you want."

"I'm much better than that," Ichigo blurted. He was mortally offended by her assumptions.

One of the Shinigami heard him and turned to give Ichigo a dirty look. He was a big guy with tattoos and obviously from one of the outer Rukongai districts. Ichigo stared back flatly until Hinamori demanded his attention by dragging him bodily from the courtyard.

"You can play alpha male later. Right now you have a kidou lesson to attend," She said with a superior air. Though she did turn to growl at the man making him stop short in shock. Someone else whispered in his ear. Probably a warning not to attack the fukutaichou. The man bowed stiffly in Hinamori's direction and spun on his heel to return to his katas. "Everyone here is much older than you and has been training for years, Ichigo-kun," Hinamori continued as if nothing had happened. "I don't want you to get hurt trying to prove yourself."

Ichigo scoffed. "Aizen didn't apprentice me because I'm pretty, you know. I can fight. Those guys couldn't touch me."

Hinamori giggled. "You are so silly sometimes, Ichigo-kun, and it's Aizen-taichou." She pulled him through a gate way into a much smaller training yard before he could reply. Aizen was there waiting for them. "This is where you will be learning kidou. It is one of the smaller yards used by the officers to improve their aim and practice Eishouhaki. You shouldn't be bothered here when you decide to practice."

"Eisho-what now?"

"Kidou without the incantation," Hinamori said without missing a beat.

"Oh."

"Good morning Hinamori-chan, Ichigo-kun," Aizen said once they were close enough that he would not have to shout.

"Good morning Taichou," Hinamori chirped brightly as Aizen's attention settled on her.

Ichigo felt a bit nauseous watching them interact. "Good morning," He muttered. Hinamori punched him subtly in the side. "Aizen," Another punch. "Taichou."

Aizen's eyes shined with glee at his pain. That was Ichigo's interpretation anyway. He certainly didn't step in to stop the abuse Ichigo was taking from his fukutaichou. Ichigo dropped his gaze to his feet and counted to ten. Whatever the other two were saying went right over his head until...

"And I'll be back after the lesson to take Ichigo-kun shopping." He zeroed in on that line.

"What?" He asked alarmed.

"I told you that I would take you shopping on my day off. Hinamori said with fond exasperation.

Ichigo did not know how to react to that deceleration. He had thought that she had forgotten about her promise and would soon regulate him to a minor annoyance that she had to check on every once in awhile, but it seemed that in the few days that Ichigo had been in Seireitei Hinamori had grown rather attached to him.

"You don't have to-" He began.

"It's no problem," Hinamori interrupted patting him on the head a little harder than necessary. She smirked when he growled at her.

"I will keep him from running off after his lesson for you," Aizen said with that gleam in his eye. Ichigo scowled. The man was laughing at him.

Hinamori, oblivious to the undercurrents of the conversation, grinned at her Taichou. "Thank you, sir. I'll be back later, Ichigo-kun. Be good," She said running off to do who knew what in the meantime.

"She is your fukutaichou?" Ichigo asked once she was gone. He was a little bit dazed. It was coming to be his usual reaction to being around Hinamori for any length of time.

Aizen shrugged delicately. "She is very competent at her job despite appearances, and of course she is completely devoted to me," He said with a smile. It was not a nice smile. "But discussing Hinamori is not why we are here."

Ichigo grunted. "Why do you even want to teach me kidou anyway?"

Aizen let him over to a wooden bench that ran along one wall across from a row of practice dummies. "It is going to be too much to ask for you to accept it on good faith, isn't it?" He sat and gestured for Ichigo to sit as well. Ichigo sat as far away from Aizen as he could get away with. He nodded silently and waited for Aizen to tell him what he wanted.

"I am going to be using these kidou lessons to gauge your growth in power," Aizen said off offhandedly. "Urahara said that it was exponential, but you will understand why I do not take his word for it. It is true what I said before. You are an experiment. The first time a Quincy and a Shinigami have produced offspring. If you add in the hollowfication, the results could change all three worlds."

"I see," Ichigo said, not really seeing the point at all. Aizen had always had an unhealthy interest with his progress as a Shinigami. It was what had finally brought him down in the end, the obsession to push Ichigo past his limits.

"No, I don't think you do." Aizen said. "But that is not the point. The point right now is to get you to cast a successful kidou. Has anyone ever explained the basics of kidou to you?"

"Not really," Ichigo said thinking back. "There may have been some crappy drawings at some point, though."

Aizen frowned at the thought that Ichigo was making fun of him in some way. "I was under the impression that Urahara had become your teacher in the now obsolete future. He is very adept at kidou and that man, Tessai, was the Kidou Corps Commander. How can you know next to nothing about it?"

Ichigo sighed already frustrated with playing nice with Aizen. "Urahara said I was too strong to learn and use kidou in under a decade. He even recommended that I not even bother to learn it at all."

Aizen snorted. "Still up to his games, I see. How long did you have to train when he said that to you?"

"Ten days," Ichigo said smiling slightly. It had been a terrifying experience at the time, but now he could look back and laugh at his own ignorance. He had actually believed everything Urahara had told him at the time.

"Hmm, impressive if you are taking on the likes of Muramasa already," Aizen muttered. His eyes distant as if thinking about something else altogether.

Ichigo shrugged. "I'm the learn as I go type. Can we get started with my lesson now?" He complained.

Aizen laughed at that. Even with a smart mouth and general disdain for his teacher Ichigo was still eager to learn it seemed, or at the very least get the lesson over with so that he could go on with his day. "Of course. The Basics of Kidou," Ichigo groaned as Aizen settled into lecture mode. "Kidou is the channeling of one's reiryoku for a purpose." Aizen noticed that for some reason Ichigo perked up at the definition. What exactly had the boy learned over his tenure as a Shinigami? "The incantations that beginners use are mainly for concentrating on moving your reiryoku and building up enough for the purpose you have in mind."

"You said Urahara was a master. That's how he could cast his kidou without saying anything," Ichigo said remembering how Rukia had had to use the whole incantation to cast those same kidou.

"Yes, Urahara is an expert at Eishouhaki, but he would have at least had to say the name of the kidou. No one can cast a kidou without saying the name," Aizen said levelly. "Perhaps you just missed it."

Ichigo thought back to the spar in Urahara's training ground. No, he had not even moved his lips before Ichigo hit that first barrier. Did this mean that Urahara could do something that no other Shinigami could do? "Perhaps," He said vaguely in answer to Aizen.

Aizen stared knowingly at him before continuing with the lesson. "You will have to use the incantations of course. But the level one kidou do not have them. And since those are the most harmless of kidou, those will be the ones that we will start with. Until we know how abysmal you are at it."

"Hey!" Ichigo shouted indignant that Aizen would call his nonexistent kidou skills abysmal.

"Calm yourself, I'm sure that I am competent enough of a teacher to make sure you become merely mediocre," Aizen said with a confident smile.

It was then that Ichigo realized that Aizen was trying to rile him up on purpose. He took a deep breath and reigned in his temper. "Let's just get on with it," He said as calmly as he could manage.

To his surprise Aizen actually looked pleased with his reaction. "Good, it seems you can hold onto that temper of yours." Ichigo gaped at him completely flummoxed. "At least now we know that we don't have to spend hours meditating to get you to calm your reiryoku."

"What?" Ichigo asked dumbly. That had been a test?

Aizen pushed up his glasses with a grimace. "You really know nothing at all about kidou, don't you?" Without waiting for an answer he continued with his explanation. "Kidou is an art that requires calm and control in order to perform. Knowing this you should be able to ascertain the likely hood of an opponent using kidou by their demeanor."

Aizen poked Ichigo in the shoulder to make sure that he was still listening. That far away look on the boy's face bothered him. He was used to a captive audience. It earned him a scowl. "I'm listening," Ichigo ground out rubbing the brand new bruise forming. Aizen really didn't hold back with discipline. "I was just... I don't know. It's how I remember things."

Aizen grunted but continued without comment. "But even if one had the disposition to use kidou effectively in battle does not mean that they have the skill."

"So why do you think that I have the disposition?" Ichigo asked. He hated to admit it but Aizen was leaning toward being an effective teacher based on the few minutes he had been explaining kidou to him.

"Mm, and intelligent question," Aizen said as if mildly surprised. Ichigo's scowl deepened. Aizen may be a good teacher, but he definitely wasn't a nice one. "The answer is rather simple though. Your reiatsu went from roiling around the courtyard and terrifying my subordinates, I might add," Ichigo flushed at this. He had not meant to make anyone uncomfortable. "To a perfect calming pulse in the span of one breath."

"It did?" Ichigo asked. He had never really paid attention to what his own reiatsu was doing. He mostly just tried to shove it out of the way so that he could attempt to feel other people's reiatsu.

Aizen frowned at him. "It seems we will be adding reiatsu awareness exercises to our lessons, which means we are back to hours of meditation."

Ichigo shrugged. It was what Ossan was trying to teach him how to do anyway, to feel his reiatsu. "I think I can do that."

Aizen was pleasantly surprised by Ichigo's answer. He had thought that he would have to fight the boy every step of the way to get him to meditate. This was becoming more of a … pleasant experience than he had originally thought it would. But Aizen was also just as glad that the boy wasn't a complete idiot.

"Good. You can start with about thirty minutes a day of meditating on your own reiatsu. But back to kidou for now, you can meditate on your own time. In order to use kidou effectively in battle one has to know the kidou well enough to forgo the incantation. Otherwise you are better off using a kidou either in a surprise attack or while the opponent is being distracted by someone else. Though there are many other uses for kidou -kaidou and seals for instance- we will be working with hadou and bakudou. You do know the difference between them?"

"Hadou is attack kidou and bakudou is barrier," Ichigo rattled off flippantly. "But I thought seals were bakudou as well." He was fascinated by Aizen's explanation in spite of himself. Why hadn't anyone told him that kidou was so interesting?

"The two disciplines are closely related and seals do indeed fall under a loose definition of bakudou save for one major difference. Bakudou are dependent on the caster's ability to feed them reiryoku. Seals, on the other hand, are anchored by a physical symbol. They do not need the caster to sustain them because when they are attacked the absorb energy from those attacks to sustain a barrier."Aizen stood suddenly and faced the dummies on the other side of the courtyard. "Today, you will learning how to channel and control your reiryoku by using the first level bakudou Sai."

Ichigo peered at the dummies from Aizen's side. He still didn't trust himself not to blow something up. The innocent wall behind the row of dummies was a prime target. "What if I mess up?"

"Don't worry about backlash. Sai is usually taught first not only because it can be cast with a minimum of reiryoku, it also is absolutely harmless. It is not even illegal to use this skill on humans."

"Huh," Ichigo grunted. Well that explained why Rukia had used that particular kidou on him the first time they had met. He smiled at the memory. She had been so shocked when he had broken it. Though he had not had the time to appreciate what he had accomplished at the time, he had let it set the tone for everything he had learned after. He wouldn't know if he could do it or not unless he tried.

Aizen cleared his throat to draw Ichigo's attention back to him. "As I was saying, the basis of all kidou is the channeling of reiryoku. You will want to work on gathering your reiryoku in different quantities and concentrations along with your reiatsu meditations. I have a device that I will give you to help with that."

Ichigo nodded. It could only help him with his own training as well.

Aizen lifted his hand. "Once you have a small amount of your reiryoku in your hand, you direct it to the target to surround and bind them. Bakudou 1: Sai!" A simple ribbon of reiryoku bound the dummy. "It is important to keep in mind the end result of the kidou. Many students forget this part," He smiled thinly at Ichigo. "It takes concentration, and many cannot concentrate under pressure. This is usually why kidou spells fail," Aizen stepped back. "You try now."

"What? Now?" Ichigo asked. He had not expected to be told to try a kidou so soon.

"Yes now, it is not as if you can master kidou on theory alone. Now gather a small amount of your reiryoku and practice binding the target."

Ichigo sighed. His breath evened out again as he tried to calm himself, since Aizen said that it was important to remain calm while casting a kidou. He gathered a small portion of his reiryoku into his hand and pointed at the dummy.

"Bakudou 1: Sai!" Ichigo's reiryoku collided with the practice dummy and surrounded it just as Aizen's had. Ichigo thought for a moment that had succeeded in casting his first kidou, then the bindings flared brightly and it caught fire.

Both Ichigo and Aizen stared dumbly at the flames. After a beat Ichigo rounded on Aizen. "You said it was harmless!" He accused.

"Well, it was enlightening." Aizen took off his glasses and cleaned them on the sleeve of his haori thoughtfully. "It usually is harmless." He informed Ichigo sitting down once more. "What exactly did you do?"

Scowl firmly in place, Ichigo crossed his arms defensively. "I did exactly as you told me. I gathered some reiryoku and directed it at the dummy. I even kept the end result in mind, just like you said."

Aizen nodded slowly mind whirring with possibilities. By all rights, from the way the boy described it, the kidou should have worked perfectly, and indeed it almost had. Obviously Ichigo was doing something wrong even if the boy did not consciously know that he was. Making a decision to get to the bottom of this problem Aizen stood once more and grabbed Ichigo's shoulder. Ichigo flinched and tried to pull away but he held firm. "Relax, I need to observe what you are doing with your reiryoku as you are doing it, and this is the easiest way. Try the bakudou again."

"You want me to turn another dummy into a pile of ash?" Ichigo asked slowly. He had figured Aizen would just do what Urahara had and proclaim that he would never be able to learn kidou.

Aizen only pointed at the next dummy in line. Ichigo quickly cast the kidou at it just to get it over with. As soon and it burst into flames, he wrenched himself away from Aizen and backed up a few steps. Aizen stood amazed at what he had felt.

The boy surpassed anything that Aizen had dreamed of. "That..."

"Yo, Aizen-taichou!" A voiced interrupted before Aizen could articulate his thoughts. Gin sauntered over to the two of them. He stopped briefly to survey the smoldering dummies. The too wide creepy grin never left his face even though his eyes widened a bit. "Man, our lil' Ichi-chan sure can put some punch inta his hadou. That one a mid-level one?"

"That one was Sai," Aizen said dryly. "Evidently that is what happens when you bother to put a ridiculous amount of reiryoku into a level one kidou."

"Urk." Gin couldn't help his gut reaction. He had never heard of anyone -not even one of the famed Royal guard- being able to over power a harmless bakudou to the point of weaponizing it.

"Hey! I did exactly what you told me to do!" Ichigo yelled. He was completely offended by their reactions to his failure.

"Aww, don't be mad Ichi-chan. Look at it this way," Gin said grinning ear to ear. The grin widened even more when he saw Ichigo tense at the new nickname. "Even if ya can't learn any higher level kidou ya got one hell of a surprise attack in reserve. It surprised me anyway."

"Don't call me Ichi-chan," Ichigo growled a bit mollified in spite of himself. Why did they have to be so damn agreeable. They were his enemies. He should be in a cold dark dungeon somewhere so that he could have an excuse to go on a rampage. Ichigo took a deep breath trying to calm himself in vain. "What did I manage to do wrong anyway?" He demanded, not nearly as calm as he wanted to be.

"I was just about to correct your minor misconception of my instructions when Gin arrived," Aizen told him hoping to prevent an all out brawl between Ichigo and Gin. Ichigo had already reached up and grabbed the cloth wrapped hilt of his Khyber knife, and Gin had his hands inside his haori no doubt fingering the hilt of Shinsou. It seemed that Gin was now ready to take the threat the boy presented seriously, even though he had laughed himself sick when he had been briefed on Ichigo's known abilities.

"Misconception?" Ichigo let go of the hilt of his zanpakutou and crossed his arms waiting for Aizen to finish his explanation.

"Quite," Aizen said. He held out his hand palm up. "This is the amount of reiryoku needed to power a Bakudou 1: Sai. Indecently, this is what I meant when I said a little bit."

Ichigo looked from Aizen's palm to his face and back in confusion. "There's nothing there," He said sure that Aizen was trying to trick him for some reason.

"Oh boy," Gin said. He put his hands behind hi back and retreated to a safer distance to observe.

Ichigo sounded so sure of himself that Aizen checked that there was indeed a faint flicker of reiryoku manifested in his palm. "You cannot see it?"

"See what? There isn't anything there," Ichigo informed him with a frown.

Aizen pursed his lips in thought. How had the boy been able to find Muramasa or evade capture if he couldn't see reiryoku being used under his nose? "How do you usually trace someone by their reiryoku?" He asked curious.

"I use spirit ribbons," Ichigo answered promptly.

"Interesting. That is a high level technique that few even bother to learn let alone use. It Is possible that you are so strong that you are blind to the lower levels of both reiryoku and reiatsu." Aizen held his arm closer to Ichigo. The boy seemed to respond best to a hand's on approach. There was no reason not to continue in that vene. "Put your hand on my wrist and see if you cannot feel the reiryoku that way."

Ichigo balked. He in no way wanted to actually touch Aizen voluntarily. The man had already invaded hi personal space way too many time as it was. But he did want to learn. Maybe one day having Aizen for a teacher would be worth the trouble.

Ichigo reluctantly reached out and touched Aizen's wrist with his finger tips. Ichigo tried to concentrate on the reiryoku instead of the pulse of his enemy beneath his fingers. Shiro howled for Aizen's blood from his inner world but was cut off abruptly with the sound of shattering glass. Ichigo blinked when he heard Ossan grunt contentedly.

"Do you feel it now?" Aizen demanded. He sounded a touch impatient. It appeared that he did not like being touched anymore than Ichigo liked touching him.

After an intense moment of concentration Ichigo gasped out loud and dropped his hand in shock. "But- but that' hardly any at all!"

"Of course it I very little reiryoku. It is a novice kidou," Aizen said derisively. "Your idea of a little bit of reiryoku would turn the Black Coffin into a mulching machine."

__Ick.__Ichigo thought. That image was going to haunt him for awhile. "So all I have to do is limit the amount of reiryoku I use to normal amounts?" It couldn't be that easy.

Aizen nodded once. "That would be wise. Try it now, and only use as much as I showed you."

Ichigo turned to the third dummy in line. The other two were already piles of ash. He gathered his reiryoku and raised his hand to study it. After mentally comparing it to the amount Aizen had shown him, he cut it down to a tenth of the original amount. Both Aizen and Gin started to get impatient with the wait while Ichigo cut down the reiryoku two more times. Finally satisfied that it was as close to what Aizen had shown him, he pictured his target bound in his reiryoku. "Bakudou 1: Sai!" He called out Reiryoku hot out of hi hand and wrapped round the dummy with a snap.

Ichigo stood amazed at his own success. He had actually done it. In other company, or none at all, he may have celebrated his first kidou. As it was he just settled on softening his frown a bit.

"Very good," Aizen said from behind him. Ichigo turned in time to see Gin whisper something to him. "I expect you to practice more outside of our lessons until it does not take you any longer to cast the kidou than it does to say it."

Ichigo nodded. He could admit that he had taken a ridiculously long time to cast the kidou. Even the long winded poetic kidou did not take that long to cast. He would definitely be practicing.

"But I am afraid that I must cut this lesson short," Aizen continued. "Ichimaru has some sensitive information for me."

"Not going to let me listen in, huh?" Ichigo asked impishly.

"Of course not," Aizen scoffed actually rolling his eyes. Ichigo considered that one a win. It was almost as much fun getting Aizen to break his sunshine and rainbow persona as it was to stump Urahara.

__Dangerous games. __Ossan warned. __Don't get distracted by the small victories.__

Ichigo grunted in response to the warning. He agreed completely. Too much was at stake to play games.

"I think that to keep you out of trouble I am going to have to issue a direct order." Aizen said his usual smile taking on a malicious edge. "I seem to remember Hinamori promising a shopping trip for the day." Ichigo blanched. "One you were going to avoid correct? I order you as my apprentice to go find Hinamori and attend the excursion."

"But-"

"You are dismissed," Aizen said turning his back on Ichigo and inviting Gin to follow him to a more privet location. Gin laughing into the sleeve of his haori waved at him as they both left the court yard.

"Damn it," Ichigo said crossly. He had been hoping to dodge Hinamori for the day and claim that he had been busy later. But an order meant that Aizen was free to punish him if he did not obey. That was the kind of situation that could get real sticky real fast. He had no intention of showing his hand so soon. He set off to find Hinamori.


	13. Chapter 13

1

Ichigo found Hinamori practicing in one of the dojos after asking a lot of very unhelpful people to vaguely point him in the right direction. He actually found her by following a random explosion and the billowing smoke escaping from behind a closed door. He slid open the door and stepped back as the dense cloud of smoke escaped. Ichigo peered into the dim room to see a soot stained Hinamori standing alone in the middle of the room with a satisfied smile on her face. Scorch marks spanned every wall and the ceiling.

"Maybe you should be practicing outside," Ichigo said dryly to announce his presence.

Hinamori turned toward him, wide eyed with a look of consternation on her face. "Ichigo-kun?" She asked. "I thought that I had a couple of hours before your lesson was over."

Ichigo shrugged. "Probably, but Gin- Ichimaru... taichou, interrupted us and Aizen...taichou said that it was important that he and Gin -Ichimaru-taichou talk, so he canceled the rest of the lesson," Ichigo grimaced. Using honorifics for those two always left a bad taste in his mouth, but he was tired of Hinamori interrupting all the time to correct him.

"Oh, that's too bad," Hinamori said. She pulled a white handkerchief out of her sleeve and wiped at her face. She winced when she saw the black smears left on the cloth. "How did it go before then?"

"Actually not that bad," Ichigo told her still kind of surprised that he was disappointed that Gin had shown up. "I can do Bakudou Sai now, and I managed not to kill anyone with it."

Hinamori rolled her eyes with a crooked smile on her lips. "Bakudou Sai is harmless. I don't know why you treat kidou as a deus ex machina. It takes years of study before one can use it effectively, and even then it is limited to a few situations."

Ichigo snorted. He would have dared her to say that to Hachigen or Tessai if it wouldn't have gotten him into so much trouble. They not only used kidou effectively but dominated with it. "That's what Aizen said," He told her instead. He threw up his hands at the look of reproach Hinamori gave him. "Aizen-taichou," He corrected. Hinamori was patient enough to let the conversation grind to a halt until he addressed Aizen properly. It was faster just to add 'taichou'. "But then the first time I cast Sai I set the practice dummy on fire." Hinamori scoffed. "It's true." He asserted knowing she wouldn't believe it until she heard it from Aizen.

"I believe you," Hinamori said though her tone said otherwise.

"It is. You can probably still see the piles of ash," Ichigo said stubbornly. He had yet to find out how Hinamori brought out the four year old in him, but she was very good at it. He really hated it when he ended up acting like a kid around her.

Hinamori walked up to him and patted him on the head. "I believe you. Now let me get cleaned up and we can spend the rest of the day relaxing and decorating your room."

Ichigo groaned out loud. He hated shopping. "But-" He searched for anything that would distract her. "Hey, what were you doing in here anyway?" He asked, one part curious and two parts putting off the inevitable.

Hinamori giggled nervously. "It's nothing really. I'm just trying to incorporate kidou into my zanjutsu by using my zanpakutou as a conduit." She blushed lightly.

"Wow, that's- I have never heard about that before," Ichigo said very impressed. Suddenly he was much more interested in kidou. He even felt Zangetsu perk up at the idea.

"Well, it's not all that great. It's just something that I am working on. It still has some bugs in it," Hinamori said playing with the hilt of her zanpakutou. Tobiume likes to find new ways to blow things up."

"But it sounds like fun and useful too," Ichigo insisted.

"Not all that useful. I can't even control the blast of a hadou. Every time I use a hadou it explodes in all directions. I have just figured out how to keep myself from being blown up not too long ago."

__She says that like mass destruction is a bad thing.__Shiro said excited at the prospect of being able to use kidou. __Get her to teach us Aibou.__

__I can think of several situations where a skill such as that could be extremely useful. __Ossan added.

"That sounds great," Ichigo said.

Hinamori snorted. Boys were always the same. The more damage they could do the better.

"No really," Ichigo said deciding to impart dome of Ossan's wisdom. "I mean, it might not be so great with a group, but if you get separated and surrounded it could be very useful."

Hinamori thought about that. "I guess you are right. I never thought of it that way."

"Can you teach me how to do it?" Ichigo asked hopefully. Maybe he could convince her to train him instead of shopping.

"Eh? But you just started learning kidou," Hinamori said surprised by the suggestion.

"I'm a fast learner," Ichigo promised.

Hinamori was still skeptical. Maybe after you learn Shakkahou I'll ask Aizen-taichou if I can teach you. For now let me shower and we can get in some shopping before lunch."

She slipped past Ichigo and out to door to get ready. Ichigo watched her walk down the hall and sighed to himself. "Well, it was worth a shot," He said to the empty dojo.

_2_

Ichigo will admit that shopping with Hinamori wasn't as bad as he would have thought it would be. She only made suggestions as to which stores were the best for price and quality and let him pick where to go. She didn't comment on every piece of furniture that they passed or constantly tell him how cute everything was. Ichigo was actually starting to enjoy shopping with Hinamori, even though it took them searching through four furniture stores to find a Western style bed that would fit into his little guest room. General consensus in Seireitei seemed to be that a Western style bed had to be able to sleep five people.

"They are so big because they are such a novelty," Hinamori explained to him at the second store. "Every furniture store has one or two over-sized beds for the nobles to buy, but there are very few others that can afford one so practicality is not as important as being impressive."

"I don't need one if it's going to be too expensive," Ichigo said studying the one bed that they had managed to find that resembled his own bed at home. It it was that much trouble he would just fold a futon every morning. Even if he was more familiar with a Western style bed.

"No, Aizen-taichou told me that you would be living with us for a ling time, and we night as well make you comfortable. He even said that you had a bed that you slept in at your house. It seems a bit much to be lugging around a bed for you to sleep in when you evidently move around a lot," Hinamori said slyly.

Ichigo pursed his lips. She just had to listen to him when he spoke to her didn't she? Ichigo had gotten too used to adults ignoring almost everything he said because he didn't know any better. "It's just something I am used to," He said choosing to ignore the incongruity and hope it went away.

They had ended up buying the bed, and some sheets and a pillow. And for some reason that Ichigo could not fathom, extra pillows. Hinamori was insistent on extra pillows.

It was not until after a nice lunch at one of the many restaurants that dotted the area around the Fifth Division that the real terror of shopping descended on them. Matsumoto Rangiku had found them.

As they were leaving the restaurant she sauntered up to them with a big grin on her face that sent chills down Ichigo's spine.

"There you are Momo-chan," Matsumoto sang out. "I heard you were going shopping today. Why didn't you tell me?" She pouted at a stammering Hinamori.

"Eh? Rangiku-san, how did you hear about that? And aren't you supposed to be working today?" The flustered girl managed to get out.

"Never mind how I heard," Matsumoto said waving off the question. "The point is that you didn't tell me, and I'm hurt."

"I'm sorry, but this was for Ichigo-kun, and you were supposed to be doing paperwork all day today. Remember?"

Matsumoto grinned at her friend. "I was doing the paperwork, but now I have new orders to check up on you and make sure that your new charge is not wearing you out. Histugaya-taichou said so himself. He is worried about your health."

"Oh really?" Hinamori said crossing her arms.

Matsumoto giggled. "Well he expressed his concern about you being overworked within my hearing, and, as any good fukutaichou would do, I am here to assess the situation and give a full report."

"And buy new clothes," Hinamori said with a smile.

"Loyalty comes in many forms," Matsumoto said primly before bending down to where she was face to face with Ichigo. He could see strait down her top from the angle. Ichigo concentrated real hard on Matsumoto's big blue eyes. "and this much be Ichigo-kun. Rumors have been flying about you." She said pinching his cheek.

"H-hello," Ichigo said very intimidated by Matsumoto's... proximity. He heaved a sigh of relief when Matsumoto stood up. His cheeks were bright red, and he could see both girls covering smiles at his reaction.

"You didn't say that he was so cute Momo-chan," Matsumoto giggled. "Where were you two off to next?" She asked in the next breath. There was a gleam in her eye that Ichigo did not like.

"Oh, well we finished shopping for his room and were just about to go pick out some casual clothes," Hinamori said.

"Perfect," Matsumoto said smacking her fist into her palm.

"Perfect?" Ichigo asked warily.

"Yes, you already finished the boring part, and now it is time for clothes shopping!" She peered down at Ichigo. "Not only that we need to get a picture of you so that the Shinigami Women's Association members who have not had the pleasure to meet you will know what you look like."

"Why?" Ichigo asked alarmed.

"And once Shuhei gets around to interviewing you for the Seireitei Communication, he will be wanting a picture also. You think we can get a few funds by selling him a cute pick of Ichigo-kun here?" The last part she directed at Hinamori who pursed her lips and nodded much to Ichigo's horror.

_Oh dear Kami, what are they going to do to me. _Ichigo thought. "And what does that have to do with clothes shopping?" He asked. A sick feeling was spreading through his stomach. He had gone into battle with less trepidation than this.

"Why you will have to be dressed for the occasion Ichigo-kun." A truly frightening smile bloomed on the blond's face. "And I know the perfect outfit we can borrow."

That was how the three of them ended up in an upscale clothing shop complete with full standing mirrors and a lounging area were people could sit comfortably over tea and snacks while waiting to give their opinion on how an outfit looked. Heck, there were even attendants that helped dress the customer in some of the more outlandish formal ware.

Ichigo would later swear that he heard the proprietor address one of the other customers as Kuchiki-sama. Ichigo looked around expecting to see Byakuya, but the elderly gentleman examining a kosode was definitely not Byakuya.

Matsumoto commandeered one of the attendants, a dressing room, and a formal kimono Ichigo was sure cost more than the clinic back in the living world. The outer garment alone was heavy, black silk with flying cranes depicted in white and silver thread on the back. A rich Navy blue obi shot through with silver thread completed the look, and that left out the other three layers that went underneath. The silk was of the finest but was very stiff and the detailed embroidery made it even more so. Once the attendant and Matsumoto had finally shoved him into the damn thing, he could hardly move.

"You looks so cute, Ichigo-kun. That kimono would be perfect for formal dinners," Matsumoto gushed. She pulled out a camera from her shihakushou.

"Yeah, or if the Soul King drops by for lunch," Ichigo couldn't help snarking. Matsumoto giggled and adjusted the focus on her camera. "Now I know my allowance wont cover this," Ichigo said to Hinamori who shrugged apologetically, then grinned.

"Awwww, no worries, Ichigo-kun. This is just for the picture," Matsumoto said. "Smile!" Ichigo scowled at her. She peeked at him from around the camera and shrugged. "Still cute." She took the picture.

"Now that you got your picture, Rangiku, we should go to a store more in our price range and buy Ichigo-kun a couple of yukatas and kosode that aren't standard issue.

"Yes of course Momo, but doesn't he look adorable all dressed up?" Matsumoto said gesturing at the scowling Ichigo.

"Maybe we should let him change," Hinamori said sweat dropping. Ichigo looked mad enough to rip the garment off in her opinion. She handed Ichigo the bundle of his own clothes. "Stealing his shihakushou while he was changing was rather mean, Rangiku."

Matsumoto threw her hands up in the air with a long suffering sigh. "How else was I supposed to get him into that kimono? You saw the one he picked out," She grimaced. "It was so plain."

Ichigo shivered involuntarily. Did she have to sound so earnest when she said that? He turned on his heel to return the dressing room and remove the offending kimono when the denreishiki he keep hidden in the inner pocket of his shihakushou began to ring.

Ichigo stopped dead blood draining from his face as the sound filled the room. He was pretty sure that not everyone in Seireitei had one yet like the phones in the living world. They were so far behind in the distribution of technology in the Soul Society that it was cruel and unusual punishment for the poorer citizens.

Matsumoto grabbed him by the shoulder, a look of surprise on her face. "You have a denreishiki?" She asked grabbing the shihakushou and fishing around until she pulled out the still ringing device. "How ever did you get one of these?" She asked pushing the answer button and putting the device to her ear.

Three seconds later her face paled and tears formed at the corners of her eyes. "T-t-t" Realizing that his dad was the one calling him, Ichigo jumped forward and slapped his hand across Matsumoto's mouth. This brought him face to bust with her. He started to blush madly.

"Don't. Don't say anything." Ichigo took the denreishiki from her numb fingers. "Dad?"

Matsumoto jerked back eyes wide. "Dad?" She asked completely bewildered. "Taichou is your- taichou- married – kids. Never in a million years..."

Shhh! Ichigo shushed her. "No one can know," He whispered. "There is no telling what they will do to my family at this point."

"Know what?" Hinamori asked. Several things were clicking into place for her.

Ichigo shook his head sadly. When he spoke it was into the phone. "Why are you calling now?" He demanded. "You know that calling me is out of the question, right?"

"You forgot to call last night," Isshin said seriously. "Your mother was worried, and you are supposed to check in every night. You know that."

"You do realize that we have a problem now, right?"

"Not so much Ichigo, Rangiku-chan doesn't look like it, but she is very good at keeping secrets." Isshin told his son confidently. Ichigo could hear him grinning with pride.

"Not her, you idiot. I'm talking about Hinamori, Aizen's fukutaichou." Ichigo hissed into the phone.

"Um, that may be a problem," Isshin admitted.

Ichigo sighed. "Hold on a second," He said watching Matsumoto jump up and down excitedly.

"Can I talk to him. I wanna talk to him, please." The blond pleaded.

"Let me finish talking first." Ichigo said rolling his eyes. He felt like he was corralling children. How did this stuff always happen to him. He could see his dad waiting by the phone for the perfect moment to cause him the most trouble. "Tell mom I'm fine and that I am sorry I forgot to call. Tell Yuzu and Karin I love them and miss them. And talk to your friend before she drives me nuts."

He thrust the denreishiki at Matsumoto who squealed in delight. She grabbed the denreishiki and skipped into one of the dressing rooms for more privacy. Ichigo wondered idly if he would ever get the device back. He better or Urahara would use him for his experiments.

He turned to Hinamori. She had her hands on her hips with her face scrunched up in what she probably thought was a stern expression. Hinamori had a problem with being stern.

"What was that all about?" She asked.

Ichigo rubbed at the back of his head. "I may not be just a random kid from Rukongai?" He said sheepishly. "If it makes you feel any better Aizen knows all about it." He paused and threw in a suspicion he had anyway. "And Yamamoto does too." Heck, it might even been true. There was no telling what Yamamoto knew and didn't know.

"Yamamoto-sou-taichou," Hinamori said absently. She looked skeptical, but did drop her defensive posture. She stared at the dressing room where Matsumoto was giggling. "I haven't seen Rangiku this happy since her favorite bar instated Lady's Night. She must be very fond of her old taichou. A missing taichou who is your dad."

"Yeah," Ichigo stopped searching for words. He really didn't know how much to tell her since she didn't know the whole truth yet.

_It is time for you to make Aizen's talents work for you. _Ossan said.

_What do you mean?_

_Mr. Cryptic means ya suck at lyin' so make Four-Eyes do it for ya." _Shiro translated happily.

"Oh," Ichigo said out loud. He focused on Hinamori again, who was waiting for an answer. Ichigo repeated word for word what Ossan told him to say. "I'm not supposed to talk about it. Aizen should really be the one explaining this to you."

Hinamori sighed and gathered Ichigo into a hug surprising him. "You are so lucky that I am fond of you," She said. "But I will still be speaking with Aizen-_taichou_ about this." She emphasized the address. "I would really like to know what is going on."

Ichigo nodded. "Can I go change now?"

"Sure," Hinamori said. "Let me help you. If you manage to tear this thing we will have to go over budget this year to pay for it."

Ichigo really didn't want her help, but it was either that or one of the store attendants would follow him into the dressing room again. "I the formal wear," He griped heading to an unused dressing room. Hinamori helped him out of the layers of the kimono and folded each carefully, as if they were going to unravel in her hands before taking it and the obi to give to an attendant.

After Ichigo had peeled off the last layer of clothing and all but jumped into his shihakushou, he stepped out of the dressing room to see Hinamori and Matsumoto deep in conversation.

Matsumoto held out his denreishiki for him. As he took it from her she said. "You don't really look like him."

"Dad? Thank kami, no. I look more like my mom," Ichigo said knowing that that was not quite true. He had his mother's eyes, and his hair was defiantly form her side of the family, but...

"Actually you look a lot like your cousin did when he was little," Matsumoto giggled and ruffled his hair. Ichigo ducked away swearing silently that the next person who did that was going to loose a hand.

"You mean Kaien?" He asked.

Matsumoto smiled sadly. "Yes, I do. You know about him?"

"Yeah, I do. I have never met him, but I do know about him.

"Wait," Hinamori interjected. "Do you mean Shiba Kaien?" She looked back and forth between Ichigo and Matsumoto. "You're a Shiba?"

"No!" Ichigo said with enough sternness to surprise both women and himself. He had not know until now how protective he was of his mother's family name. "I'm a Kurosaki. Dad took my mom's name when they were married. I didn't even know about the Shiba family until recently."

"I don't know what to think about this anymore," Hinamori said shaking her head. "Were you even kidnapped by Muramasa like we were told?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said. It was even partially true, or rather a part of him had been kidnapped. "He wanted my zanpakutou spirit."

Hinamori softened at the pained look on Ichigo's face. "It's alright. We'll catch him."

Ichigo smiled at her. He really wasn't made for lying. The stress alone seemed like it was going to kill him, and he just plain hated to lie to his friends. After that they let the conversation drop and continued with the shopping trip.

Five shops and what seemed like thousands of outfits later Ichigo was ready to wring Matsumoto's neck. "Alright, that's it," He declared as they left the last shop bags in tow. "I have more than enough clothes for the few days a month I wont be wearing a shihakushou."

"But Ichigo-kun, there is a cute little boutique with the most charming summer yukata closer to the Tenth Division, and we can drop in to say hi to Hitsugaya-taichou," Matsumoto said swinging a bag full of her own purchases.

"I am done," Ichigo said. He cut his arm through the air for emphasis. He took a deep breath to calm down. "Really, I don't need that much. What we have is more than enough to last me awhile." He sighed. "And we can't tell Toushirou about my dad."

Matsumoto stopped and stared at him in surprise. "I understand," She said dropping her shoulders in disappointment. The more people who know the more likely to wrong person will know." She sniffed. "Taichou will be mad at me when he does eventually find out. He so looked up to your father."

"Because my dad was taller, right?" Ichigo said with complete seriousness.

Matsumoto laughed. "That was part of it," She conceded. "Well, if we are going to quit shopping, I might as well get back to my division and pretend to work."

Ichigo smiled at her. "I was a pleasure to meet you, Matsumoto-san."

"Ichigo-kun, you can call me Onee-san." Matsumoto giggled at the look on his face. "Goodbye you two."

"Goodbye," Ichigo said hurriedly grabbing Hinamori by the arm and dragging her off in a random direction before Matsumoto could say anything else. Hinamori waved to her friend as Ichigo dragged her around a corner.

Two streets later, after they doubled back to where they were headed toward the Fifth Division instead of away from it, Hinamori turned a decidedly evil grin on him. She may not have been able to do stern, but she could do evil surprisingly well. "You thought I would act like Rangiku-chan when we first started our shopping trip didn't you?"

Ichigo glanced up at her sheepishly. "You have my most humble apologies," He said sincerely. Hinamori adding the odd witty comment to Matsumoto's deluge of fabric and color suggestions had been the only thing that had kept him sane through the whole experience.

Hinamori smirked. "You are welcome Ichigo-kun. But I did let her shove you into that formal kimono for revenge. Ichigo stared at her in shock. "That and Rangiku-chan has excellent tastes. That kimono was so cute on you."

"Don't mention it. Please."

3

After a late dinner Ichigo collapsed into his new bed that had been delivered earlier that day. Say what you wanted about Seireitei, they had some of the best delivery service Ichigo had ever experienced. He groaned as his leg muscles twitched involuntarily from walking so much. Seireitei was huge, and all the shops Matsumoto wanted to finish were all in different sections of the city. And the woman herself was exhausting in her own right. Ichigo had had it way too easy breaking in the first time. He rolled over to try to go to sleep but was interrupted by a knock on his door.

He groaned again and lurched to his feet to answer it. When he opened the door Hinamori laughed at his state. "Oh my, looks like we are going to have to work on your endurance," She teased holding out a folded letter

"I would like to see anyone in the Gotei 13 go through that forced march of a shopping trip without falling over by the time Matsumoto was finished." Ichigo griped snatching the letter from her.

Hinamori giggled. "Aizen-taichou explained your situation to me," She said in a more serious tone. I would like to say I'm sorry for doubting you. It must be hard to have your whole life turned on its head."

"I'm getting used to the feeling." Ichigo blinked and rubbed his blurry eyes. How could a day of shopping do this to him? Maybe it was Matsumoto's non-stop talking that did it. He was pretty sure Zangetsu, both of them, were still hiding after disappearing sometime around the second store that he had been dragged to.

"Poor Ichigo-kun," Hinamori said smiling. "Aizen-taichou also told me to remind you that secrets are secrets for a reason. And told me to remind you to read the letter before going to bed. There will be a lecture tomorrow morning."

"A lecture?" Ichigo asked nonplussed. She had to be joking.

"Yup, bright and early," Hinamori chirped not one bit of sympathy in her posture. It seemed that she liked to see Ichigo in pain.

"Okay fine," He said yawning. "I better get to sleep then. Today was worse than being stabbed through the abdomen."

" Eww, Ichigo-kun, I'm sure that getting stabbed is much worse than a little shopping trip, and what would you know about that anyway?" Hinamori said tapping him on the nose. "Remember to read the letter." With that she left whistling as she bounced down the hall.

Ichigo watched her go jealous of her energy reserves. Maybe he shouldn't have let that last part slip out, but he was so tired. He shut the door and plopped back down on the bed. He opened the letter. Damn the man even had perfect hand writing.

-Ichigo

Thanks to you Hinamori now knows about your family in the living world. I told her that Shiba Isshin is now powerless in a gigai in the human world where he met your mother. She believes that once you manifested your own reiatsu Shiba sent you through the dangai in hopes that you would be picked up by a Shinigami and trained. It is here that the story folds into the original tale of your kidnapping by Muramasa, which is how both I and the Sou-taichou want it. Yes, he has eyes, he can see who you are related to. So the next time you see fit to explain your life story in a clothing store in front of people who knew your father, don't.

Aizen-taichou of the Fifth Division

P.S. Burn this letter. –

Ichigo stared at the letter in amazement. The evil bastard had done it. Hinamori now knew more of the truth than anyone in Seireitei excepting Aizen and Yama-ji. And it gave him a valid reason to stay.

He collapsed back on his bed. "This can't go on. I need you to teach me how to lie better," Ichigo said to the empty room.

There was a shift in his inner world. __Come then.__The older zanpakutou spirit said. Once Ichigo was in his inner world Zangetsu stood before him. "We will use this time before sleep to teach you this skill." Ossan said.

"Yeah, and we are going to need as much time as possible." Shiro added.

Ichigo frowned. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."


	14. Chapter 14

1

"Ichigo-kun?"

Ichigo snapped out of his reiatsu meditations at the sound of Hinamori's voice. He cursed himself silently for his inattentiveness. If he had been working with his Quincy abilities when she had walked in he would be in big trouble right now. He glared up at Hinamori from where he was sitting cross-legged in the middle of his bedroom floor. Didn't the girl know how to knock?

After the first all too short week, Hinamori had lost whatever reservations she had had toward him and had started to treat him as a younger brother, annoying teasing and all. She smiled widely at him not at all phased by his thunderous scowl at being interrupted while doing his "homework."

"Sorry, were you talking to your zanpakutou?" Hinamori asked crouching down so that she could look him in the eye.

"No," Ichigo said. "I was trying to regulate my reiatsu." He closed his eyes again intent on ignoring the girl. Whatever Hinamori had planned couldn't be as important as training, so she would have to wait.

Ichigo's eyes flew open again when he felt a finger in the middle of his forehead pushing his head back. "Huh, you look a lot more tense than you actually are," Hinamori said from right in front of his face.

Ichigo felt the sudden urge to growl at her. He batted her finger away. "What do you want?" He asked knowing from experience that she was not going to just go away. But if Matsumoto wanted to spend more bonding time with him, he was going to disappear in Rukongai for awhile.

The last time the buxom blond had taken him to a bar, for crying out loud. Not a reputable bar either. He had spent the whole time perched uncomfortably on Matsumoto's lap- for his own protection- afraid to look either right or left. He wasn't a pervert. And he received some of the most envious stares he had ever seen from every other male in the place.

"I have a surprise for you," Hinamori said bringing Ichigo back to the present. The words filled Ichigo with dread. The evil vixen giggled at the look on his face. "And it has noting to do with Rangiku-chan; I promise." Hinamori knew well his reservations about spending time with Matsumoto.

"What is it then? I got training to do," Ichigo said gruffly. Though he relaxed upon hearing that he wouldn't be subjected to Matsumoto. Hinamori wasn't cruel enough to lie about such a thing, and she seemed to understand his unease around the Tenth Division fukutaichou.

"Well," Hinamori sat back on her heels in front of him. "I thought that it was a shame that the only people you have met since coming to Seireitei have been adults. I thought it would be good for you to hang out with someone your own age." Ichigo felt a cold chill crawl down his spine at her words. "So yesterday I went to the Eleventh Division to talk to Kenpachi- taichou. His fukutaichou is about your age, and I thought that maybe you two could be friends."

"You set me up on a play date with Kusajishi Yachiru?" Ichigo asked deadpan. How the hell did these things even happen to him?

"Oh you know her?" Hinamori asked with a nervous giggle.

Ichigo blushed, caught once again knowing way more than he should. "I have heard of her," He hedged not meeting her eyes.

"Huh, I was hoping that you hadn't," Hinamori said as if she was talking to herself.

"What?" Ichigo demanded.

"Oh nothing," Hinamori answered brushing off the question. She jumped up dragging Ichigo with her. "Come on or we will be late. Kenpachi-taichou is not very good at waiting."

Hinamori was all ready to go, but once she had Ichigo on his feet she stopped and put her hand palm down on top of his head. Ichigo was about to snatch her hand away from his head, when he noticed her other hand descending down his peripheral to about ear level.

Ichigo stood still waiting for her to explain herself. He had become used to Hinamori's strange ability to follow several trains of thought at once and switch freely between them at a rapid pace.

"Have you gotten taller?" She asked suddenly.

"I am a growing boy," Ichigo said sincerely hoping that this would not result in another shopping trip. Hinamori had already replaced his clothes once when she noticed that his sleeves had been getting too short for his arms.

"Yes, but this much?" Hinamori reached into her shihakushou and pulled out a charcoal stick. Ichigo stared at the random object in confusion.

Hinamori seized the opportunity and pushed him up against the door frame and deftly made a mark right above his head. "I swear, last month you were much shorter." She made another mark lower on the door frame, an approximation of Ichigo's height a month ago.

"Is it really that big of a deal?" Ichigo asked not sure if he should be worried or not. But it wasn't really disturbing him. He was just glad that he was getting taller, and his shihakushou and Zangetsu grew with him. No big deal right? But who knew if time travel had adverse effects or not?

"Souls usually don't grow this fast, Ichigo-kun. It is very unnerving when they do." Hinamori frowned at the marks on his door frame.

Ichigo sighed. Hinamori could be such a mother-hen sometimes. "I'll be fine. Besides you were the one that said we were going to be late," He said changing the subject.

"Yes yes, we have an appointment to keep." Hinamori dragged Ichigo out of the room. "But don't think that I will be letting this one go," She said as they walked down the hall.

2

At the Eleventh Division barracks Ichigo and Hinamori were led into an empty room that in any other division would probably be a high ranking officer's office. Ichigo stood in the middle of the room with Hinamori scowling under the unimpressed gazes of both Ikkaku and Yumichika.

Hinamori stepped up to the two men and pulled on their ears sharply. "Be nice you two," She said with a bright smile on her face twisting until both men squeaked like mice caught in a trap. Once she let them go Ikkaku rubbed the side of his head.

"Orange hair is so un-beautiful," Yumichika mumbled petulantly. He smoothed his own hair over his bright red ear.

"Well at least he has a lucky name," Ikkaku said giving Ichigo a thumbs up. "Looks tough too, for a chibi." He bent down to leer in Ichigo's face. "Ya any good at fighting?"

Before Ichigo could answer Kenpachi entered the room with a tinkle of bells. He loomed over the group. It had always grudgingly impressed Ichigo how the hard bitten man could passively dominate a room with his massive size alone. Now that Ichigo was much shorter than his own full height, he found himself looking way, way up into the scarred, eye-patched face. Kenpachi smiled down at him like a hungry shark. "This the brat?" He asked without preamble.

Hinamori stepped in front of Ichigo protectively. "Yes, this is Ichigo-kun." She bit out with her hands on her hips. It was a funny thought, but she looked like she was about to lecture the Eleventh Division taichou.

"Aw, don't worry little mama-bear. I'm not going to fight your cub," Kenpachi said cleaning out his ear with one finger. The bells at the end of his spiked hair jingled faintly. "He probably wouldn't last two seconds anyway." He sniffed his finger.

Ichigo scowled and reached for Zangetsu just as a pink head popped up from behind Kenpachi's right shoulder. "Hi!" Yachiru chirped at Ichigo.

Ichigo blinked at the fukutaichou. "Hi," He said letting go of his zanpakutou.

"I wanna test him anyway, Taichou. I heard he beat the crap outta everyone that challenged him in hakuda at the Ninth." Ikkaku said leering at Ichigo and fingering his zanpakutou.

Ichigo snorted and crossed his arms, dismissing Ikkaku as easily as Kenpachi had him. Hinamori opened her mouth ready to give the bald man a dressing down. "He was being tested you idiot," She snapped.

Ichigo blushed. That hadn't been a test so much as a school yard rumble, but everyone had surprisingly agreed to lie to Hinamori about it.

"And what happened at the end of the test?" Ikkaku asked even though he already knew the answer.

"Tousen-taichou sent him to the Second Division to improve his form," Hinamori sniffed.

Actually Tousen had paralyzed him with his shikai and dropped him on the second division with a note pinned to his kosode that said something along the lines of 'he's pretty good a hakuda and your problem now.' It was worded more politely though. But Ichigo felt a sort of pride at driving the bastard to surprise attack him and then foist him off on another division.

"Eh why?" Ikkaku asked. He had only thought that he knew the whole story. "Didn't he kick everyone's ass?"

Ichigo decided to answer that one before Ikkaku gave away the whole thing to Hinamori. "I fight well, but my form could be better," Ichigo informed him. As a matter of fact Sui-Feng had told him he fought like a wet cat in a sack and anyone who really knew what they were doing could take him down in an instant. Which she herself had done after he had thrown her third seat out a window. After he had woken up from his second surprise attack of the day Sui-Feng had informed him that he needed proper training. "Curb stomping was not a recognized hakuda technique, and it offended Aizen's sensibilities that I fought like a brawler. So I got stuck with hakuda lessons from Sui-Feng herself three times a week," He finished sheepishly.

"And this 'curb stomping' isn't effective?" Yumichika asked curiously.

Ichigo shrugged. "They usually don't get back up after. And that guy rubbed me the wrong way. He should have realized he wouldn't have all of his teeth after calling Hinamori that." Ichigo said before he could censor himself. Hinamori cocked an eyebrow in his direction.

Kenpachi laughed loudly. "I like this kid."

"So can I try him out, Taichou?" Ikkaku asked eagerly. He was ready to experience a fight with Ichigo first hand.

"This is a play-date for Yachiru, not you." Kenpachi answered. "If there is anything left of him afterward, we will see about setting up a play-date for you."

Ichigo face-palmed. Of course Kenpachi would have some sort of skewed definition of what a play-date was. He could not believe that Hinamori had dragged him into this.

While they had been talking, Yachiru had been circling him, studying him closely. Ichigo tried to follow her with his eyes as she made another circuit. "Umm, I'm Ichigo," He said when she had made it around to the front again.

"Yachiru," The pink haired terror said still looking him up and down as if absorbing every detail. "Ken-chan, can we go play now?" She asked not taking her eyes off Ichigo.

"Yeah, yeah, go have fun and don't destroy anything. It pisses off the Old-Fart," Kenpachi said with a negligent wave of his had. Ichigo assumed that Old-Fart was Yamamoto. Kenpachi turned back to Hinamori. "You can pick up what's left of him before dinner." With that Kenpachi left clearly uninterested in anyone who could not put up a decent fight for him. Ichigo sighed in relief. He would not have to relive being chased from one side of Seireitei to the other; Kenpachi didn't think that he was strong enough.

Ichigo felt a small hand clamp around his wrist. His first instinct was to jerk his arm back, but it wouldn't budge. Then there was a quick disorienting sensation followed by a jarring stop. He stumbled forward a step, and found himself on a random street in Seireitei. Shunpo was always unsettling when you weren't the one in control of it. He looked around wondering where the hell he was now.

"Where are we?" He asked his companion scratching his head. The street looked depressingly like every other street in Seireitei. White walls towering over them with a few gates and maybe a store front. Ichigo wished that Central 46 would pass a law stating that all the streets at least had to be color coded by division, so that he would at least know what section of the city he was in.

"Um." Yachiru tapped her chin with her finger. "West," She said finally.

Ichigo shook his head already knowing better than to trust her. He jumped onto the roof of the nearest building to orient himself. It was a bad habit he had developed. It continually got into trouble whenever he got caught, but for him it was still the best way to find out where he was when he got lost.

He used the looming Soukyoku Hill to orient himself. After a couple of seconds he realized that Yachiru had shunpoed them Northeast of the Eleventh Division.

A light step on the roof next to him announced Yachiru's arrival. "Oh, look, it's the Kuchiki estate. I must have come here on instinct." She pointed at a sprawling compound with well manicured lawns and dazzling gardens.

Ichigo wondered briefly if Rukia was there. His search for her had not been going well. Between his schedule, the size of Seireitei, and Rukia's seeming ability to hide he was having no luck at all. And he sincerely wanted to be reunited with his friend again. "Instinct?" He asked casually. "You got friends there?" He asked mentally crossing his fingers.

"Na, the only person I know from the Kuchiki clan is Rukia-nee-san, and she lives at the Thirteenth Division barracks. She says it's something about favoritism. I think she just wants to get away from her brother. Are brothers so bad?" She asked innocently.

"Some aren't," Ichigo said stiffly. Great, now he had to go kick Byakuya's ass for giving big brothers a bad name.

"Oh, that's good," Yachiru said. "Your mama-bear seems to like her little brother." Ichigo resisted the urge to face palm again. Yachiru poked him on the shoulder until he looked at her. "But this is where my secret, special place is." She said in a whisper.

"Eh?"

"Come on, I'll show you," Yachiru said in a more normal voice jumping down off the roof. "But you gotta keep it a secret. Don't tell Bya-kun."

Ichigo quirked his lips. Yachiru kept secrets about as well as his sisters did. Ichigo nodded solemnly and followed. He caught up with her at an opening into the sewers. He raised his brows. So they were going to sneak in.

"What if we get caught?" Ichigo asked unsure of his ability to talk himself out of trouble after breaking into a noble's home.

"Don't worry. I've been doing this for years. All you have to do is drop down into the sewer. Go to the tunnel I made in the wall to connect to the sewer under Kuchiki manor and come out through the tunnel in the back behind the unused building that we use for SWA meetings."

Ichigo snapped his jaw shut. Byakuya had had a herd of women meeting in his backyard for years without knowing about it? "And the owner of the estate doesn't know?"

"Yeah, he knows." She raised a finger. "But he don't know when. That's the important part."

Ichigo shrugged and jumped into the sewer after Yachiru. When he saw the tunnel that connected the public sewer to the Kuchiki one he was suitably impressed. "How the heck did a tunnel the size of a full grown man get here?" He asked.

"I put it here," Yachiru said with a grin. "I wanted it to be big enough, just in case Ken-Chan wanted to visit."

Ichigo stared. "Yes. But how?"

"By digging silly," Yachiru said impishly. She put her finger to her lips indicating that it was a secret.

Ichigo just dropped the subject. Yachiru opened the shoji of one of the smaller buildings along the back wall and led him into the room which had a surprising amount of mats to sit on, a table to hold snacks, and a small podium at the back. "I see that you are well established at your secret place," Ichigo said dryly.

"Thank you. It was my idea to hold meetings here," Yachiru said happily.

"It's nice," Ichigo said. "But why have meetings here?"

"What do you mean?" Yachiru asked.

"Why, um, commandeer this place when there are a lot of other, legal, places to have meetings?"

"Because the Kuchiki Gardens are famous for being so pretty. Why not have meetings here?" Yachiru asked curiously. It didn't seem that she understood the concept of personal property.

"Good point," Ichigo conceded. He was not prepared to get into an argument over it with her. He didn't know her that well. He had not spent a lot of time with Yachiru before. Mostly he was avoiding Kenpachi, which was where Yachiru usually was.

"You don't have to stay and play with me if you don't want to." Yachiru said in a forlorn tone.

"Huh?"

"Well, you don't seem all that excited to have to play with me. You don't have to if you really don't want to."

Ichigo sighed. The sad little girl act had him hooked, and he knew it. He couldn't resist it when his sisters did that either. "It's not that. It's you know... Kenpachi is kind of intimidating," He threw out there. It was probably the best excuse. She had to be familiar with people running from her taichou screaming. Maybe he was a little old to be playing with little girls, but he knew a lonely young girl when he saw one. "And I was also hoping that they would drop something about Muramasa." He finished lamely. It was true at least. He had been listening in on conversations for months. Hinamori had clammed up after their first conversation and would not speak about the subject again. He suspected that she was under orders not to.

"You mean that zanpakutou that we been chasin'?" Yachiru said perking up. Ichigo hadn't left yet. She took that as a good sign.

"Yeah. Hinamori wont tell me anything about it," Ichigo griped. It was nice to be able to vent to someone. Even Matsumoto changed the subject when he brought it up.

"Really?" Yachiru asked. "I know all about that. Don't know why they wouldn't tell you."

"You do?" Ichigo demanded. Sometimes his life was just unfair. A kid knew more about the current situation than he did. "How?"

"I'm a fukutaichou," Yachiru said puffing up with pride. She grinned at the dumbfounded look on Ichigo's face. It wasn't the first time someone had forgotten her rank. "And no matter what they all think, I do pay attention to the important stuff." She sniffed at the imaginary people telling her to sit down and pay attention. She crossed her arms defensively and puffed out her cheeks.

"I'm positive that you do," Ichigo said playactingly. This was obviously a sore point with her. "You wouldn't happen to-"

"They got squat," Yachiru said promptly. She had anticipated this question. "Mura-chan is gone, and know one knows where. It's all stupid meetings about where he could be. Mura-chan is good and gone."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed in thought. He could guess why why that was. Urahara had some explaining to do. "So that's it?" He said out loud. It was very disappointing as far as information went. "That's what they have been keeping from me? Shinigami." He said the word like a curse conveniently forgetting that he was currently talking to a Shinigami and was technically one himself.

"Yup," Yachiru chirped in perfect agreement. "So are you going to leave now? I promise I wont tell Baldy or Yumi-chan."

Ichigo quirked his lips. He noticed that she did not mention 'Ken-chan' in her list. "I'm not going anywhere," He said smiling at her. "What did you want to do?"

Yachiru put her finger to her lips and stared up at the ceiling thinking hard. She had not thought that far ahead as she had fully expected Ichigo to have run away by now. Her eyes darted around the room as she tried to remember any games that they could play. "Hey, it's a kitty!" She said suddenly.

The sleek black cat slinking into the room stopped as if aware that it had been caught. Ichigo processed the non-sequitur and immediately connected black cat with Yoruichi. The black cat stared at him knowingly and honestly a little put out that he was not where she expected him to be.

Ichigo blinked. Yoruichi was wearing a collar. It was a solid silver ring with what looked like a stylized circuit board pattern etched into it. "Uh, that's my cat," Ichigo said as Yachiru grabbed Yoruichi around the middle and hugged the cat to her chest. He winced expecting Yoruichi to throw a fit, but the cat just hung placidly in Yachiru's arms.

"This is your kitty?" Yachiru asked curiously. "How did she get here?"

"I don't know," Ichigo said truthfully. How had Yoruichi tracked him to the back corner of the Kuchiki estate? The cat rolled her eyes at him. Ichigo blushed as he remembered that he still had very traceable reiatsu.

"Oh pretty collar." Yachiru ignored Ichigo in favor of fawning over Yoruichi. She examined the collar more closely. "I wonder if Yumi-chan would like it."

Ichigo sweat dropped. Yoruichi was staring at him steadily. He could almost hear her voice in his head telling him to not let Yachiru get her hands on the collar. "I don't think that it would fit him," He pointed out reasonably.

"Yeah, you're right," Yachiru said and immediately lost interest in the collar.

Ichigo thrust he hands out mechanically. "She doesn't really like being held by unfamiliar people," He said taking Yoruichi from Yachiru.

Yachiru handed her over with a pout. "So she wont want to play dress up?" She asked longingly.

Yoruichi sank her claws into Ichigo's chest -all of them- in warning. And just in case he did not get the message she gave him a **look**. It was not a normal 'get me out of this or I will hurt you' look. It was a 'I am a former Onmitsukidou Commander and you don't want to know what I will do to you' look. Ichigo got the message loud and clear.

"Actually, I have a better idea," He said thinking furiously. What did young tom-boys with questionable father figures do for fun anyway?

__Duh.__Shiro said helpfully. It was the first thing he had said in weeks. The hollow had not taken Ichigo's insistence that he continue to train with Ossan alone all that well. Ichigo scowled for Shiro's benefit and then almost physically slapped himself. It was so obvious.

"You ever played soccer?" He asked.

Yachiru's face went blank. "Soccer? What's that?"

Ichigo sighed. Of course she wouldn't have heard of soccer. Kenpachi's favorite game was Stabbity Stab, Stab, and it wasn't like Seireitei had a league or anything.

"It's a fun game. I could teach you how to play if you want," Ichigo said warming to the idea. This way he could cheer Yachiru up and Yoruichi wouldn't maul him.

"Mmm, How do you play?" Yachiru asked keenly. She was leaning forward to the point where she would fall over if she went any farther.

Ichigo put Yoruichi down, confident that she could see to herself for awhile. "Well, we will need a ball about this big." He held up his hands to roughly show her the size of a soccer ball.

"Oh, I got one of those," Yachiru said excitedly and crawled around the back of the podium. She rummaged around for a moment before pulling out – a basketball.

Ichigo stared. He had not been expecting that. "That's not a soccer ball, but I guess it will do," He said after a moment.

What does a soccer ball look like then?" Yachiru asked throwing the ball up and catching it.

"A soccer ball has black and white patches and is softer than a basketball. Ichigo explained.

"What's a basketball?"

"You're holding one," Ichigo said pointing at the ball. We can use it, but basketballs are very bouncy."

Yachiru looked at the ball in her hands. "I will look into getting a proper soccer ball if I like the game," She said confidently.

Ichigo stepped back. He wasn't sure he wanted to know but -

"How exactly will you be getting a soccer ball?" Shinigami were not allowed to take trips to the living world anymore for personal reasons. He knew because Rangiku lamented it often.

Yachiru winked at him conspiratorially. "We're not supposed to go to the human world to shop, but the SWA still conducts the occasional raid. So how do you play?"

Ichigo blanched. Raid shopping was not a concept he wanted to be familiar with. "Well, first we will need to find an open field," He said. "Do you know anywhere we can go?"

3

What followed was, in Ichigo's opinion one of the most challenging soccer games that he had ever played. Of course there was no strait forward laying down of the rules. As so many young children do when they don't like the current rules, usually when they are loosing, Yachiru started to improve on the game. So that what was once the game of soccer wound up being a bastardized game of soccer crossed with a street brawl; punching, kicking and tripping allowed. Ichigo got as far as sticking some sticks into the ground for goals before Yachiru started changing the rules.

"But we are warriors. If we don't fight to prove that we can survive then it isn't worth it. So I think that an all out fight for the ball would be a good idea," Yachiru pointed out in what she thought was a reasonable argument. Ichigo agreed figuring that full contact soccer would be better than listening to Yachiru wail, besides if he could take a hit from Aizen in his final evolved form then he could take a hit from a little girl.

When Yachiru found out that she could not outright hurt him shunpo was added to the mix. It was then that Yachiru started tripping him for the ball and pulling off moves that, well, he wasn't really sure what they were. One second he would have her arms pinned to her sides screaming something to the effect of "No hands!," and the next she would be on his back chewing on his hair.

The no hands rule was the one rule that Ichigo would not budge on. "It isn't soccer if you use your hands," He stubbornly growled at Yachiru while grabbing her by the back of her kosode and kicking the ball out of her hands. After awhile of this Ichigo instated the zanpakutou penalty mostly out of sheer frustration. If one team used their hands while the ball was in play the other could use their zanpakutou's for two minutes as a counter measure.

He really had expected Yachiru to cry and want to stop playing at that point, but being who she was she thought it was a brilliant idea. "Swords make everything better," She had explained.

But it still wasn't until she found out the hard way that Zangetsu had a ranged skill that she finally gave up on just grabbing the ball and shunpo-ing for the goal. Also the new rule backfired on him later in the game. When he used his hands to block a goal Yachiru had happily laid into him with her own zanpakutou, in shikai form to be fair. That thing was all but impossible to dodge! It really didn't matter to her that in actual soccer stopping a goal using your hands was perfectly legal.

That was how Hinamori and Kenpachi found them later: covered in bruises and smiling manically. Hinamori was dubious of their new game to say the least with the blatant displays of violence. Kenpachi, on the other hand, had an oddly thoughtful look on his face.

"Foul!" Yachiru yelled gleefully drawing her zanpakutou as the two older Shinigami walked up. "You used your hands!"

Ichigo, who was doubled over with the wind knocked out of him in front of his goal, yelled back as soon as he could. "Nuh-uh! I blocked it with my liver! And I can prove it!"

It wasn't really true. The battered liver was already healing thanks to his hollow regeneration. He bent double anyway cradling his side. It wouldn't do him any good to act too strong for his age right now. Those lessons in lying were finally starting to pay off.

The budding screaming match was interrupted by Kenpachi's rough laughter. "You were right Hinamori. They are getting along great." He smacked the much smaller fukutaichou on the back causing her to stumble forward a couple of steps.

Hinamori managed to catch herself before she fell flat on her face and glared at the man. "Is it really alright for them to treat each other so harshly?" She asked in a clipped voice. She was obviously not as impressed with their game as Kenpachi was.

"It's a lot nicer than any enemy would treat them," Kenpachi answered sagely revealing his own brand of hard won wisdom from the Zaraki district. "It also prepares them for hostile situations where your pansy diplomacy would git them killed, girly." He turned his rabid grin on Ichigo. "After seein' that I would say that he could handle most hollows on his own and may even grow up to be a decent opponent." He laughed. "What do ya say kid? You wanna fight?"

Ichigo swallowed. He had been hoping to stay off of Kenpachi's radar. It seemed that even being technically twelve years old wasn't going to save him. "You want me to fight you, a taichou, when I haven't even been to the Academy yet? Do you want to kill me?" Ichigo asked already planning his escape. The most frightening thing about Kenpachi was that he wouldn't stop fighting until one of them couldn't fight anymore. Which meant to the death to Ichigo. Either scenario was worth avoiding.

"I ain't never been to the Academy either, waste of time if you ask me." He looked Ichigo up and down, brass bells ringing. "But ya are kind of on the scrawny side. I could possibly let ya grow up first before tryin' ta kill ya." He grinned down at Ichigo. "I promise I'll give ya a good fight as a graduation gift."

Ichigo smile weakly knowing that there was no way to talk the blood thirsty taichou out of it. He nodded slightly in agreement.

Kenpachi's grin widened. "Come on, Brat!" He yelled over his shoulder. "You gotta explain this new game to me so we can use it to weed out the weaklings the Old Fart insists I allow into the division every year."

"Yay!" Yachiru yelled jumping on her taichou's back. She pointed in what Ichigo thought was vaguely the direction of the Third Division. "Back to the barracks so we can teach Baldy and Yumi-chan!" Kenpachi took off in the direction she pointed. "See you tomorrow!" She waved at Ichigo over her shoulder.

"Will they find their way back to the Eleventh?" Ichigo asked Hinamori.

"They always manage," Hinamori said with a grin. "That went better than I expected."

"What did you think would happen?" Ichigo asked suspiciously.

"Honestly? I expected you to run away when you saw Kenpachi-taichou." She hugged his shoulders. "You did well today. Yachiru needs someone that she can play with."

Ichigo stayed silent.

"But that last kick looked like it hurt," Hinamori continued. Ichigo rolled his eyes. He had been living with Aizen and dealing with Urahara, he Knew when someone was up to something. "Do you need to go to the Fourth?"

"No, I'm fine," Ichigo said truthfully.

"You sure?" Hinamori pressed.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tough." Ichigo said not falling for it. Then he jumped as he felt something claw it's way up his leg.

"What is that?" Hinamori said jumping back in surprise.

"It's just my cat," Ichigo said as Yoruichi draped herself around his neck. "We should get back to the division. I bet she is hungry ans so am I." He started walking.

"Not so fast," Hinamori said grabbing him by the arm. "We are going to the Fourth so you can get a physical."

Yoruichi took it upon herself to scratch Hinamori's hand. Hinamori snatched her hand back and shoot the cat withering look.

Ichigo was lost for a moment before he remembered their conversation from earlier that day. "You went and set up an appointment after you dropped me off?" He asked incredulous.

"Of course," Hinamori said in that maddeningly superior way she affected from time to time. "I told you that I wasn't going to let that go. I also asked if we could eat in the mess hall why we were there." She grabbed his arm again. "Now come on. I had to call in a favor to get Isane to do this on such short notice. You can bring your cat with you. What's her name?"

Ichigo blinked as the conversation took a sharp left. "Umm, Kuro," Ichigo said the first thing that came to mine. It was a tried and true method of naming. It was how Shiro and Ossan got their individual names after all.

__Do yourself a favor and let your future wife name your kids.__Shiro snarked.


	15. Chapter 15

1

After a quick lunch at the mess hall, Hinamori spoke quietly to the young woman behind the Welcome desk at the medical ward before trying to usher Ichigo into the main part of the building. "Miss," The young woman said suddenly barricading the door way. "I'm afraid that I will have to ask you to leave your cat outside." Her eyes flicked to where Yoruichi was still draped across Ichigo's shoulders.

Ichigo turned his head to try to look at the cat. He had completely forgotten that Yoruichi was even there. How he had forgotten, he was not sure, but Yoruichi could remain very still when she chose too. He had not even noticed her breathing almost in his ear.

"Sure, no problem," Ichigo said. He reached up and lifted Yoruichi off of his shoulders and put her on the ground. She looked up at him curiously, probably wondering what they were doing at the Fourth in the first place. Sniffing indignantly she strutted out of the building tail high in the air.

"Will Kuro-chan be okay?" Hinamori asked as they entered the exam room.

Ichigo shrugged. He wasn't worried at all. "She found me once already. I'm sure she will be able to find me again."

Hinamori nodded mechanically. Ichigo didn't think that she fully understood that cats, and Onmitsukido, largely took care of themselves anyway. "The bond between a person and their pet can be very strong. I read in this book once about a dog that faithfully guarded his master's home even after the master had died. The poor thing wouldn't let anyone near the front door."

Ichigo hopped up on the hospital bed before commenting. "Where do you find all these books to read anyway?" He asked. Animals in general had never interested him. He was more interested in the fount of useless knowledge that was Hinamori. She was as bad as Ishida, and she was more than happy to find out that Ichigo could read. Not many of the Shinigami from Rukongai could read or write, and those from Seireitei didn't much care for fiction the way the Hinamori did. She was even more thrilled when she realized that he knew most of the legends that she did in the form of children's stories that he had read to his sisters when they were younger.

On his technical thirteenth birthday, Ichigo had found a book based on a true story of a Shinigami who had fallen in love with a human woman waiting for him on his bed. The note he found with it said that it was one of Hinamori's favorite stories. The book had had a happy ending, and Ichigo couldn't help but think that she had picked it out just for him.

"I get most of the books from the library, silly," Hinamori answered. "Or one of the book sellers if I really like a book."

Ichigo's head shot up in surprise. The Soul Society was backwards about so many things that he had thought an actual public library had been out of the question. "There's a library? A public one?"

"Of course there is a library," Hinamori said rolling her eyes at him. "I can't afford all the books I go through on my salary."

Their conversation was interrupted when a rather tall woman with short silver hair shyly entered the room. Ichigo vaguely remembered her from his short stay in the Fourth Division after the incident at Soukyoku Hill. If he remembered correctly she was the fukutaichou.

"Hello Hinamori-chan," The woman said demurely. "What seems to be the problem? Your hell butterfly said that this was an emergency." She looked back and forth between Hinamori and Ichigo perplexed that both of them looked to be in perfect health.

"Kotetsu-san, This is Kurosaki, Ichigo, Aizen-taichou's apprentice." Hinamori introduced him. Ichigo nodded politely but kept quiet. If she wasn't wasting the woman's time she could be the one to explain it. He for one would like an explanation himself.

"Yes, I am aware of who he is," She said inclining her head slightly. "But why are you here?" It was all well and good for Hinamori to stop by for a visit, but claiming an emergency when there was none was not her normal behavior.

"Kotetsu-san, don't look at me like that," Hinamori said seeing her fellow fukutaichou's frown. "I'm worried about Ichigo-kun. He has only lived with us for about a year, but he looks as if he has aged almost a decade. He has already grown ten centimeters and seems to be going through puberty already."

Ichigo let out a startled yelp. How would she know if he was going through puberty or not?

"His voice has already started to deepen too," Hinamori said ignoring him. "You know souls only age that fast when they are under extreme stress."

"Hmm," Kotetsu stepped closer, her brows smoothed as she bent forward to look into Ichigo's eyes. "Let me give him a full physical. Could you please step outside, Hinamori-chan."

"Yes of course," Hinamori said bouncing out the door. She gave Ichigo an encouraging thumbs up before closing the door.

Ichigo huffed. "Don't I get a say here?" He asked. It wasn't as if he wasn't grateful for Hinamori looking out for him, but was growing fast really that much of a problem? As far as he was concerned his growth spurt was a good thing. He hated having to look up at everyone.

"Ichigo-kun, you may not realize it, but a soul aging too fast is very serious. If you outstrip your body's ability to convert reshi in food it causes all kinds of problems," Kotetsu said. It is usually a high indicator of abuse, starvation, or extremely dangerous circumstances where the soul has growth spurts just to be able to protect itself. Has anyone at the Fifth Division ever tried to hurt you?"

"No," Ichigo said shifting uncomfortably on the bed. He was uncomfortable not because anyone was trying to hurt him. He knew how to handle that. It was because he did not have an answer for her. That uncertainly made him doubtful about his own health where he had not been before. This could be a side effect of time travel after all. "I didn't even think that it was such a big deal. I feel normal."

Kotetsu nodded sympathetically and placed her hand on his head. Ichigo started to duck then he noticed the green grow surrounding her hand. After a few seconds of silence she frowned. "Well at least your reiryoku isn't spasming. That's a good sign."

"What does that mean?" Ichigo asked as Kotetsu felt the bones in each of his limbs particularly at the joints.

"No stress fractures either." She smiled at Ichigo encouragingly. "It means that you are not straining yourself to grow quickly. You don't seem malnourished. Have you been eating more than usual lately?"

Ichigo blushed thinking of the three plates of food he had put down in the mess hall. He had been eating much more lately. "About three times as much as I used to."

Kotetsu raised an eyebrow at that. "Well at least you are providing you body with enough reishi to accommodate your accelerated growth." She sighed in disappointment and continued with the physical. It was all depressingly normal to her. She checked his ears and throat, pupil reaction, heart rate, and respiratory rate.

"Everything looks fine. You seem perfectly healthy," Kotetsu said perplexed. "But I can't get over the suspicion that I am missing something. You wait here. I will get Unohana-taichou to look over you. She is much better at this than I am, and I am sure she will catch whatever I am missing."

She left Ichigo sitting on the bed before he could protest. Now he was really worried. His growth was yet another abnormality that he really didn't want. Not that he wanted to remain a kid for the next fifty years, but watching everyone's reactions over his growth kind of put a damper on his elation that he was getting taller. He had thought that Hinamori had been over reacting, but anything that they thought required an opinion from Unohana had to be bad.

Kotetsu returned to the room with Unohana. Ichigo could hear Hinamori asking worriedly if anything was wrong. Unohana assured her that everything was fine, and Kotetsu just wanted a second opinion.

Unohana closed the door gently in Hinamori's face and turned to smile at Ichigo. "Hello Ichigo-kun. I am Unohana Retsu. It is good to finally meet you."

"You wanted to meet me?" Ichigo asked as a feeling of serenity settled over him. The thoughts racing through his head calmed, and he was positive that this woman was the source of that calm.

"But of course Ichigo-kun," Unohana said in a soft voice. "You have become quite the celebrity here in Seireitei. It is a shame that Hinamori fukutaichou and Aizen-taichou see fit to keep you all to themselves."

Ichigo blushed at the praise. He hadn't thought that he had done anything special. "I-uh..." He did not know what to say to her. This was one of the oldest taichou in the Gotei and quite frankly, she still sacred him a bit.

Unohana laughed prettily at his inability to say anything. "Think nothing of it. Little has changed in Seireitei in the past one hundred years. All of us are overly curious about how exactly you will be changing things." Her voice deepened and the air shifted slightly, sharpened. "I have a feeling that you will change things greatly. For better or for worse remains to be seen."

A lot of the menace was in the eyes Ichigo decided as Unohana pinned him in place with her smile. She didn't have to change her facial expression because her eyes said everything. Eyes that she kept downcast and slightly unfocused most of the time. All she had to do was focus on you and you were suddenly fighting against the pressure of an overwhelming will.

"Taichou?" Kotetsu asked confused by Unohana's behavior. Her Taichou had never turned the smile of doom on a child before. And even more surprisingly Ichigo didn't even flinch.

"It is noting, Kotetsu-chan," Unohana said turning serenely to her subordinate. The heavy atmosphere that had permeated the room dissipated. Unohana turned back to Ichigo who was shifting apprehensively on the bed. He felt that Unohana was now up there with Mayuri on his 'Stay the Hell Away From' list. "Ichigo, I am going to examine your reiryoku and reiatsu again," Unohana said once again all business. "We want to find out why you are growing as fast as you are since you seem perfectly healthy otherwise."

Ichigo nodded still wary. The older taichous at least were suspicious of him and his presence in Seireitei. But even though that wariness was directed at him, he could only see it as a good thing. They knew that something was not right at least.

Unohana placed her hand on Ichigo's head much as Kotetsu had done when she had begun his examination. The same green glow surrounded her hand. Everything seemed fine at first, but after a couple of minutes Unohana started to frown. The longer the examination went on the deeper the frown got. It took much longer than Kotetsu had. It took so long that Ichigo began to fidget.

"Keep still," Unohana told him absentmindedly. After a few more minutes she pulled back and gave Ichigo a considering look. "Well, I can tell you that it isn't abuse or stress," She said.

"I could have told you that," Ichigo said annoyed that such a long examination had yielded no new information. Then he jumped when he felt a sharp sting just above his elbow. He grabbed at his arm and glared at Unohana as she turned back to Kotetsu as if noting had happened. She had pinched him!

"I am not surprised that you didn't recognize the symptoms. This phenomenon is very rare here in Seireitei. It is much more common in the North Rukongai where the Sekkiseki mines are located. This boy just has stunted spiritual growth. It was probably caused by the inability of the body to utilized enough reishi to grow. His body is just trying to catch up to his spiritual maturity." Unohana told Kotetsu.

"So he is alright?" Kotetsu asked.

"Yes, he is fine. Though he should keep eating as much as he wants until the growth spurt ends." Unohana grinned at Kotetsu. "He may even get as tall as you before he is done growing," She teased.

"Taichou..." Kotetsu mumbled embarrassed as she always was by her height.

"Go get Hinamori-fukutaichou. She is probably worried sick about her boy," Unohana said.

Hinamori shot through the door as soon as it was opened. "Is he okay? What happened?"

Unohana smiled at her and explained the situation. Hinamori looked very unsure at what she was being told. "So he is going to get even bigger?" She asked wistfully. Ichigo tried to copy Unohana's glaring eyes at her to no effect.

Unohana covered her mouth with her sleeve laughing. "Ichigo-kun is not as young as he looks. Judging by what I have been told about his growth rate so far I would put him at just over one hundred years old."

Ichigo goggled at that. He sorely wanted to point out that he was almost twenty-three years old, not one hundred, but it would only cause even more suspicion from a taichou that was already inclined not to trust him.

"So setting him up on a play date with Yachiru wasn't a good idea after all." Hinamori said hanging her head. "I'm sorry Ichigo-kun. I didn't mean to assume that you were a child."

Ichigo shrugged uncomfortably. "Don't worry, everyone does it," He mumbled. "And I actually had lots of fun playing with Yachiru." He said leaving out his opinion that a real child would have probably died in such a situation.

"Really?" Hinamori asked with a bright smile. She was glad that Ichigo had had fun. He spent most of his free time wandering around Seireitei alone. She had come to the conclusion that Ichigo had a hard time making friends.

Ichigo nodded blushing slightly. Despite the massive differences in their reiatsu, Yachiru was able to keep him on his toes by being a sneaky little brat. It was more of a challenge for him to figure out which way she would jig next than to take a full on assault from Kenpachi, and it had the added benefit of being less traumatizing. He had really had fun.

Hinamori beamed. "I am glad that you enjoyed yourself." She turned back to Unohana. "Thank you very much Taichou. For awhile there I thought that being away from his parents was hurting him."

"Not an unreasonable assumption with young children away from home for the first time," Unohana assured her. The older woman gathered her haori around herself. "good day Hinamori-fukutaichou. It was truly pleasant to meet you Ichigo-kun." This time her smile was more sincere and less threatening. Ichigo inclined his head from where he still sat on the exam table. After Unohana had left he turned back to Hinamori.

"Can we go back to the division now?" He asked. He glanced at the window. He couldn't see anything,but there was an itch between his shoulder blades that told him that someone was watching him, reminding him that he had some business to see to.

"Aww, I was going to invite Momo-chan to have tea so we could talk about the snacks for the next Shinigami Woman's Association meeting." Kotetsu pouted, her demeanor doing a complete one eighty from her the professional one during the exam.

Ichigo gazed out the window uncomfortably unable to meet her eyes. The silence outside had claws. Kotetsu seemed very nice, but he did need to talk to Yoruichi. Not to mention that he had no idea what he could add to the conversation.

"No worries," Hinamori broke in with a smile. "I'll stay. Ichigo-kun's had a big day. He probably wants to rest after inventing that new game for Yachiru."

"A new game?" Kotetsu asked curiously.

"Yes. One that I foresee will send most of the Eleventh Division over here to the Fourth, if I am not mistaken," Hinamori said nudging Ichigo who put his face in his hands and groaned.

"Oh dear," Kotetsu said alarmed. "We are going to need more bandages, aren't we?"

Hinamori nodded solemnly. She nudged Ichigo again. "You go ahead and head back to the division."

"Okay," Ichigo jumped at the escape that Hinamori was providing him. She was really great like that sometimes. A quick goodbye to Kotetsu, and he was outside the Fourth Division.

He breathed deeply of the fresh air. Free for the first time since Hinamori had dragged him out of his room.

Ichigo didn't get to savor his freedom for long before he felt Yoruichi claw her way up his leg and onto hi shoulder. He held in a sigh. Women were quickly becoming the bane of his existence.

"What was that all about?" Yoruichi's deep voice purred from right next to his ear.

Ichigo looked around to make sure no on was around before answering. The last thing he needed was rumors about him talking to animals. "Evidently my reiryoku has out grown my spiritual body and now it is trying to catch up." He said succinctly hoping that it made sense. He had no idea how he was going to explain it to her otherwise.

"Not surprising considering your story," Yoruichi said after a moment's consideration. "Aizen's little puppet panicked I take it?"

Ichigo's frown deepened at the nick name. He didn't like Yoruichi talking about Hinamori that way, no matter how true it was. "Don't call her a puppet," He said feeling that he should defend Hinamori. "She's been tricked just like everyone else. I'm trying to prevent her from having a mental breakdown when Aizen reveals his true motives." He felt Yoruichi's tail twitch against his ear. "Nothing much could be done to help her last time, and she ended up getting hurt badly. I want to help this time."

Yoruichi purred for a bit until Ichigo started to relax from the sound. "So you were close?" She asked.

"I had never really met her before coming back."

"You really are a unique person," Yoruichi said.

Ichigo walked slowing back to the Fifth Division declining to comment on that. He stopped by the division mess hall and picked up a tray of food for Yoruichi. She whispered in his ear what she wanted while he tried to pretend that ordering food for a cat was an everyday occurrence. And he grabbed yet another plate of food for himself. Kotetsu was right, he was eating an obscene amount of food.

Ichigo carried the tray back to his room. As he shut the door he asked, "What the hell took you so long to come back?" He set out a small dish of shredded fish and a saucer of milk. Yoruichi had been huffy all the way back to the room because the Shinigami on duty had refused to give him a bottle of sake. He pulled his own meal close and dug in.

Yoruichi took her time examining her own meal before answering. "Blame Kisuke. It took him quite a long time to put this thing together. She reached up with one fuzzy paw and clawed at a short chain attached to the collar. When she pulled at it, the collar popped open and fell onto the desk with a clunk.

"He made me a collar?" Ichigo asked.

"As fun as the jokes that sentence opens up would be, I'll graciously spare you this time," Yoruichi said with a cat grin. Ichigo blushed anyway much to her pleasure. "But the device is actually hidden inside the collar. The collar was just so I could carry it into Seireitei without being noticed. Pull out the chain."

"James Bond or Inspector Gadget?" Ichigo asked sardonically as he picked up the collar and gave the chain a tug. What he had thought were decorative etchings pulled out of groves to form a long chain. "What is this?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Yoruichi said with a sniff. "And that is a disrupter of some kind. Kisuke explained how it works, but I fell asleep after the first few sentences." She paused to lap at her milk. "It's supposed to prevent spying kidou, devises, reiatsu etc," She said as she licked milk from her chin. "Everything Kisuke could think of, which is a lot."

Ichigo could only imagine. He stared at the chain. It looked very normal to him.

"You will have to ask Kisuke if you want to know anymore. All you should have to do is wear it. It covers a four meter area, and is also designed to be invisible once the ends are clasped. Good luck getting it off again," Yoruichi said.

"So this is what took so long."

"Yup, that little piece of jewelry right there. I would kill to have one.I dropped some pretty heavy hints for my next birthday gift."

Ichigo snorted. "Like you would need one of these."

"Every little bit helps," Yoruichi quipped digging into her fish.

They ate in silence for awhile savoring the meal, at least Yoruichi was. Ichigo was too busy poking at the necklace between bites.

"It's not going to explode... this time," Yoruichi said After cleaning her plate.

"Urahara made it. It might not explode, but there is no telling what else it wont do." Ichigo said staring at the necklace. "I'm just wondering how he came up with something like this."Yoruichi laughed and tucked her paws under herself. "Kisuke sees things from a different angle than anyone else. Like you he is a very unique being."

Ichigo nodded absently and put the necklace on. As the clasp closed the chain faded from view, but he could still feel the weight and the slight scratch of metal against his neck. He grimaced. It would be awhile before he got used to that. "Does Urahara know anything about Muramasa?" He asked suddenly.

Yoruichi studied him with golden eyes. "Why are you so interest in that zanpakutou spirit?"

"Because he tried to take Zangetsu from me," Ichigo said simply. "So Urahara does know where he is."

"You going to hunt him down?" Yoruichi asked.

"No," Ichigo said offhandedly, way too practiced.

Yoruichi snorted, "Then don't worry about the zanpakutou spirit."

Ichigo scowled. He hated being kept out of the loop, and that was one of Urahara's worst faults as far as he was concerned. "Just don't let Urahara do anything stupid."

Yoruichi flashed a fang at him. "I've made a hobby of it. But don't worry so much about it. Kisuke is definitely on your side in this. He is very excited about you, like I haven't seen in quite some time."

Ichigo shrugged a bit. He wasn't so sure that he wanted Urahara to be excited about him. The man had given Mayuri a job after all, and that crazy clown was ready to dissect at the drop of a hat. "That does not inspire confidence." He told Yoruichi. Visions from horror movies danced in his head.

The cat laughed at him. "But your fears of being Kisuke's next experiment aside, I need to know of any intelligence that you have managed to gather."

Ichigo sighed in defeat and put down his chopsticks. "I haven't been able to get any new information that I didn't know already."

Yoruichi scoffed. "Kisuke and I have been working our asses off and you haven't got anything at all? What exactly have you been doing all this time?" She looked him up and down. "Besides growing."

"You work?" Ichigo asked absently earning himself an evil eye. "I have been learning kidou and Quincy skills," Ichigo hurried to answer before he got mauled. "I have also been adopted by a couple of members of the Shinigami Women's Association. It has not been an easy time for me."

"What about Aizen?" Yoruichi asked flicking her tail in agitation. She tried very hard to remember that the boy was very young and not trained as a spy. He did not necessarily have the skills to subtly glean information though casual conversation.

"I only see him during my kidou lessons. I think that he may actually be avoiding me," Ichigo said.

Yoruichi nodded. "He knows that you can contact Kisuke. Those two have been playing one-up for centuries. Keeping information from each other is second nature to them." She sighed thoroughly exasperated with the sub-par report. If she got her hands on the boy for long enough, she was going to teach him how to properly sleuth. "Look just try to get any information that you can. It would also help if you could snoop around Aizen's office a bit. He isn't stupid enough to leave anything blatantly obvious, but you never know. Geniuses can do some pretty stupid things."

Ichigo's lips quirked. Yoruichi was an authority on genius.

She leveled a penetrating gaze at Ichigo. "Isn't there anything at all you can tell me? Even if it is from your past and doesn't even apply anymore. It may lead us to some clue of what Aizen is up to."

Ichigo leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. He wanted to word this carefully, because as soon as she knew how far Aizen had gone Yoruichi was probably going to explode. "I was going to wait to take care of them after I had dealt with Aizen," He said slowly. Yoruichi's ears flicked forward in attention. "Tell Kisuke to go check out Hueco Mundo, the desert above the Menos Forrest where there is a city under the illusion of day light. It's called Los Noches, and it is where Aizen's base of operations is and where he is gathering an Arrancar army."

The next few seconds were a blur for Ichigo. He felt something hit him hard in the chest. He fell backward in his chair and hit the ground. He groaned as paws wrapped themselves around his head and claws pricked the skin at the hairline. Yoruichi had pounced him and now sat on his throat ready to claw his face off at a moments notice. "Move and I'll maim that pretty face of yours boyo."

Ichigo lay still and tried his best to relax and not reflexively grab the cat and throw it across the room as he had done to Kon so many times before. They were about the same size after all.

"Now, why didn't you think that it was important to tell us this before?" Yoruichi asked flexing her claws.

"Ow," Ichigo hissed in pain. "Damn it, Yoruichi. I told you; I wanted to take care of Aizen first."

"And the fact that he is amassing an army isn't part of that?" Yoruichi growled.

Ichigo growled right back at her. "Aizen is the focal point of the whole thing. We take care of him, and the Arrancars wont even leave Hueco Mundo. They will most likely fall to fighting each other anyway."

Yoruichi pulled back. "And?" She asked pointedly.

Ichigo sat up and touched his head where Yoruichi had sunk her claws in. "And I don't want to start an unnecessary war if I don't have to." He pulled he hand back and studied his fingers smeared with blood. "And we may need them later."

"Why would we need them?" Yoruichi demanded.

"When the Quincy's attack" Ichigo said absently letting his hollows regenerative powers quickly heal his wounds.

"There are no Quincy's," Yoruichi retorted.

Ichigo snorted. "They are in hiding. Ask Urahara about that one. He knows the Quincy prophesy." He stood up and righted his chair. Kami he hopped no one had heard him hit the ground. "The Quincy's did attack in the future, both Hueco Mundo and Seireitei; both fell."

Yoruichi studied his thoughtfully through half lidded eyes. "Aizen was never the point of you coming back was he?" She asked quietly.

Ichigo rubbed his face with his hand leaving a smear of blood across his nose. "Aizen is just one of my many problems."


	16. Chapter 16

1

Yoruichi had managed to convince Ichigo that it was important for him to gather as much information as he could on Aizen. When Ichigo had complained that he already knew what would happen and that he had eliminated at least half of Aizen's plans along with Urahara's hougyoku, Yoruichi pointed out that in doing so he had changed the timeline enough that Aizen could have a whole new plan to supplement the old one.

That was why Ichigo was currently snooping around Aizen's office at the division. It was a tense adventure. Ichigo was fairly sure that Aizen was not at the division at all, but everyone else seemed to agree that Aizen was in his office diligently filling out paper work for the division.

There was a lot of paper work sitting on the desk but no Aizen. Ichigo eyed the stacks of paper on the desk with dismay. There could possibly a sheet of paper hidden amongst those forms with the title "Evil Plans" printed at the top in bright red ink, and Ichigo wouldn't have a hope of finding it. He decided to check the drawers instead. Aizen was fastidiously neat. It shouldn't be hard to find something in there if there was something to find. There was nothing in there but extra writing equipment and lesson plans for both his kidou lessons and the classes that Aizen taught at the Academy.

Ichigo sighed. He really hadn't been expecting anything to be left laying around anyway. Aizen was far to smart for that. He would keep all of his most sensitive information in Hueco Mundo or perhaps one of the labs in Rukongai.

_Oops, maybe I should have told Yoruichi about the labs too. _Ichigo thought to himself.

_Hat'n Clogs probably already figured out about the labs. It's not like he wouldn't have done a more thorough investigation of the area where the Visored were created. _His hollow pointed out.

_Still it would be a show of good faith to tell him something that he could confirm for himself. _Ossan added.

Ichigo sighed. He had to stop talking to himself. He was answering back in differing opinions. He was about to answer his zanpakutou spirits when the office door opened.

Ichigo jumped back from the desk in surprise. Hinamori had walked into the office carrying a tray of food.

"Hinamori. I was just-" The excuse died on his lips when he realized that Hinamori was focused on the empty chair in front of him.

"Aizen-taichou, I brought you some lunch," Hinamori said to the empty chair.

"Hinamori?" Ichigo asked. A chill went down his spine. It was obvious that he was the only one in the room, but Hinamori didn't even notice him.

"Oh Taichou, you work too much," Hinamori said moving a couple of stacks of paper with one hand so that she could set the tray down. "You need to take better care of yourself."

Ichigo watched the one-sided conversation as it dawned on him. Hinamori was under the spell of Kyoka Suigetsu. She and everyone else in the division had seen Aizen release his shikai. That was how he was able to move around so freely.

"Of course, I can have these done by dinner." Hinamori picked up a large stack of papers from the desk. She blushed lightly at whatever the illusion said to her. "Thank you, that means a lot." She left the room without having noticed Ichigo's presence at all.

Ichigo let out a breath he had not realized that he had been holding. That was the most creepy thing he had ever witnessed.

"Note to self: never look at Aizen's shikai."

The worst part was that Ichigo saw no real way for him to counter Kyoka Suigetsu, as you had to touch the actual blade to become immune to its effects.

Ichigo left Aizen's office shaken and a little bit sick to his stomach. Aizen had never seen fit to put him under Kyoka Suigetsu's spell before, but there was always a chance that Aizen could change his mind.

Ichigo stopped in the middle of the path leading back to his room.

Would he even know it if he had seen Kyoka Suigetsu's shikai?

Ichigo hurried back to his room, panicked mind slowly coming tot he conclusion that he had not been subjected to Aizen's shikai or he would be seeing Aizen sitting in his office like everyone else did. That meant that he had to stay out of the illusion that Aizen had weaved. He had to talk to Urahara about this one. Urahara had said that he was immune to Aizen's shikai. Maybe he would know something.

Ichigo fingered the necklace that Yoruichi had given him and pulled out his denreishiki. He didn't bother checking to see if Urahara had programmed in a number. He hit the call button.

"Urahara?" He said into the device. It was a pretty good bet that Urahara had a way of telling when he was using the denreishiki. "I need to talk to you."

"What?" Urahara snapped. Ichigo raised his eyebrows surprised. An annoyed Urahara was a rare occurrence. "I'm busy investigating that little bombshell you dropped on Yoruichi. Make this quick."

"Oh," Ichigo said. "I don't think they will be much of a problem after we take out Aizen."

There was a pause on the other end. "And before then?" Urahara asked acidly. "There are some individuals that I would label as highly dangerous."

"The Espada."

"Yes, them," Urahara said.

"I'm more worried at this point about Kyoka Suigetsu. Those illusions have redefined creepy for me," Ichigo said.

"Oh really? Did you find something out?" Urahara asked curiously. "And remember you are not a good judge at what is important and what is not, so just tell me everything."

Ichigo glared at the denreishiki. Sometimes Urahara could be very insulting without even trying. "Aizen is using illusions to convince people that he is in Seireitei when he is not. I watched Hinamori serve lunch to an empty chair, while I was standing there going through his papers."

"That is creepy," Urahara said. "So there was nothing in his office?"

"I don't think Aizen is that stupid," Ichigo said dryly. "Have you tried breaking into one of his labs?"

"Ah, so you know about those too." Urahara clicked his tongue. "The labs are nearly impenetrable. We have tried to break into them before."

"Mmm, Aizen keeps the hougyoku in Las Noches anyway," Ichigo said thinking of what his next move should be. If Aizen wasn't keeping any information here then there wasn't much more that he could do.

"Well that is good to know." The sentence dripped sarcasm.

Ichigo winced. He kept forgetting that this Urahara didn't know everything in advance. It wasn't as if he was trying to keep information secret on purpose. "Ah, sorry."

Urahara grunted. "I have a plan to infiltrate Los Noches. You just sit tight and worm your way into Yamamoto's good graces."

"No," Ichigo said. "Hold off on that infiltration."

"Why? It wont just be me Yoruichi and I. The Visored will be happy to help."

Ichigo's tone turned sheepish. "Let's just say I know from experience that breaking into Los Noches while everyone is there is a good way to get your ass kicked, several times. Besides I want to be there."

Urahara laughed. "How am I supposed to be able to make plans when you stubbornly insist on going your own way?"

Ichigo snorted. "You're a genius. You'll figure something out." Ichigo scratched his head He was almost afraid of the answer he would get to his question. "By the way, you said that you were immune to Aizen's shikai. How did you do that?"

"Ah that. Well, I found out about the illusions while we were still in school. Aizen-chan was so precocious. It was fairly easy to figure out that in order to break the illusion that you had to identify it's source, the zanpakutou itself. All you have to do is touch the sword," Urahara told him.

"I already know about touching the sword to negate the illusions." Ichigo said. The problem was that grabbing Aizen's zanpakutou would escalate him from an amusing experiment to an out right threat. He could not be seen as a threat until he was ready to attack Aizen. "I meant how did you manage to touch his sword? Specifically without him knowing about it."

"Aizen knew about it," Urahara said gleefully. "We played Got Your Zanpakutou. He was very annoyed with me for awhile."

Ichigo face-palmed. It was scary that he had come up with approximately the same idea that Urahara had years ago." I was thinking of something more discreet."

"Well, you could go blind. Tousen has the special privilege of being naturally immune to Aizen's shikai," Urahara said.

"Tousen's an ass, and I like being able to see, thank you," Ichigo said bluntly. He was sure that Urahara sometimes said things just to piss him off.

"Now I don't think that first part was necessary," Urahara admonished. "I'm sure that he has his reasons for siding with Aizen."

"Spend ten minutes with him and then tell me it isn't necessary. And Tousen just wants Seireitei to burn for revenge. He isn't that deep."

"Oh my. What did he do to you?" Urahara asked.

Ichigo growled in answer.

"Ichigo-kun we are trying to be as open and truthful as we can with each other."

Ichigo growled some more before answering. "He knocked me unconscious, tied me up and gave me to Sui-Feng to play with." He could hear peals of laughter from the phone.

"Making a name for yourself already, eh?" Urahara said. His voice practically glowed with mirth. "And how are the forced Hakuda lessons going?"

"Sui-Feng insists on beating me into proper form three days a week now. Sadly, Aizen agree's with her," Ichigo groused.

"Enjoy it while you can. We can wait for Aizen to make his move. I just wish I knew when that would be," Urahara finished wistfully.

"I already told you before. He made his move my freshman year of high school."

"That is all well and good, but it would be safer to assume that you have already changed the future to the point where we can no longer rely on your version of the future," Urahara said sadly.

"I see," Ichigo replied. "Well, you will think of something. You always do."

Urahara laughed softly. "Already on it. Goodbye Ichigo."

"Wait, you didn't answer my question."

"It is a simple answer," Urahara replied. "If you are ever in a fight with Aizen you must touch his sword, without fail. Even if he has to stab you with it."

Ichigo winced at the thought. Just because it happened a lot didn't mean he enjoyed it. "I was afraid of that. Goodbye Urahara."

After hanging up the denreishiki Ichigo glanced at the clock he had found in a junk shop. It was an old wind up that made a horribly loud ticking sound but it did it's job. He still had some time for a Quincy lesson from Ossan before he needed to go to bed. He was now learning to make a reishi bow even though he had told the zanpakutou on many occasions that he would not be using his Quincy powers to attack souls.

Ichigo sat cross-legged in the middle of his small room and dropped into his inner world. He opened his eyes to the sideways view. He looked around for his teacher. A tap on the glass behind him turned out to be Ossan jumping down from his flag pole. The older zanpakutou spirit didn't say anything just stood and waited.

Ichigo sighed and gathered reishi into his hands. He had learned that he could make an exact copy of his dual blades out of reishi with ease. But Ossan stubbornly insisted that he learn how to make a traditional Quincy bow on the grounds that once Ichigo could for a weapon that he was unfamiliar with, he could make anything he wished from reishi. Ichigo countered with the fact that Ossan was just a traditionalist. The zanpakutou had not denied it.

All Ichigo really needed to do now was learn how to use the weapon he created from his reishi. And there in lay the problem. Even after fighting beside Ishida, Ichigo only vaguely knew how to use a bow. Also, if Ichigo was being truthful with himself he thought that the bow was a sissy weapon used by elves in fantasy stories. It was difficult for him to grasp the act that the bow was at one time the epitome of ranged weapon technology.

"So I just pull it back like this, right?" Ichigo asked Ossan. At least he had refined his mental image of a bow. This one looked more like what Ishida had started out with than a lopsided stick with a string attached to it. The others hadn't even been usable.

Ossan covered his face with his hand and heaved a long suffering sigh. It took a lot to get the refined half of his zanpakutou to break his cool shell, but 'a lot' could be defined as Ichigo.

"You have never actually watched Ishida fight, have you?" Ossan asked.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked holding the bow drawn. He was sure that this was how Ishida did it. His fingers were starting to hurt. This was a lot harder than it looked.

"First of all," Ichigo jumped at the commanding tone Ossan's voice had taken. "Straiten your wrist when you draw. It will add the strength of your arm to the draw and you wont have to struggle so much."

Ichigo straitened his wrist, and the strain of holding the bow string lessened a bit. "Oh, okay."

"Elbow parallel to the ground." Ichigo did as he was told. "Now draw all the way back to the shoulder." Ossan reached out and grabbed his waist to shift his weight to his back foot. "You want a balanced stance. You look like you are going to race your arrow to the target."

Ichigo scowled when he almost lost his balance altogether but caught himself. "This better?" He asked once he got himself situated.

Ossan stepped back and meticulously studied Ichigo's form. "Yes, much better. Loose the arrow."

Ichigo let go of the bow string and the arrow arched over the neighboring skyscraper before dropping into nothingness.

"Not bad," Ossan said grudgingly. "All you need to do now is practice."

Ichigo groaned. One more thing to practice in an already over loaded schedule. He nodded in resignation. Ichigo knew better than anyone that even though he was adept at many skills he had yet to master one of them.

Ossan's lip twitched. "Once you can reliably hit a target nine out of ten times, I will start to teach you the higher level Quincy skills and maybe some trick shots."

Ichigo perked up at that. In his mind trick shots were all he needed. He was not going to use his Quincy powers against living souls. Blunt vene was quite enough for him, thanks. He said as much to Ossan. "I am not going to be using the Quincy offensive skills," Ichigo said. "Destroying them seems wrong, and everything we have tried to not destroy a soul altogether hasn't worked at all." Ichigo stared at the glass beneath his feet. He could see the disappointment flash across Ossan's face. It cut him like a knife to the heart.

"Do not go making promises you will not want to keep later," Ossan said gruffly. The older man's eyes bored into Ichigo, who found that he could not look the source of his Quincy powers in the face. "Juhabach has strayed far from the Quincy's original purpose. For that he needs to be eliminated. He has become too dangerous to all three realms to allow his soul to live."

Ichigo's head snapped up. He took the bait as Ossan had hoped he would. "And what was the Quincy's original purpose? Why should it mean eliminating him?"

"Quincy's were chosen to protect," Ossan said with a sly smile. He watched for Ichigo's reaction and was not disappointed. Ichigo's head jerked up to Ossan facing him for the first time.

"What?"

"The Quincy were given their unique powers by the Soul King for a specific purpose," Ossan said with a completely straight face. He had Ichigo now and did not want to loose him."The living realm is particularly vulnerable to attack from the outside. Quincy like Juhabach, who can concentrate reishi and choose warrior of fortune to bestow it upon, are the first line of defense for the living world."

Ichigo chewed on his lip. That somehow did not sound right. Shinigami were the ones supposed to protect the living and the dead from hollows. "This threat isn't hollows, is it?"

"No, not hollows," Ossan said. "The Quincy were supposed to protect the living from corrupted souls, the demons of Hell, Togobito. Attracting hollows to their communities is an unfortunate side effect of being able to manipulate reishi."

"That makes no sense. Why would those souls need to be destroyed but not others? They can't be much worse than hollows." Ichigo shot back. He refused to believe that any soul should be destroyed completely. He knew enough about the balance of souls to know what kind of disaster that would cause.

"Hell is a parasite world that consumes any other world it comes into contact with," Ossan explained. "As it corrupts the souls of a world those souls become chained to Hell, and the world itself is drawn closer to Hell. In the end, the whole world would become a part of Hell. Preventing Hell from consuming the living world and by extension Soul Society and Hueco Mundo was the true purpose of the Quincy. Though I am afraid that Juhabach has allowed himself to become corrupted, and he had dragged the rest of the Quincy with him."

Ichigo expelled the air that he had been holding in his lungs noisily. He scratched the back of his head suddenly sheepish for being so anti-Quincy. This was getting a little deep for him. "I have to think about all of this," He told his zanpakutou spirit. "It's a little much to process all at once."

"Please do," Ossan said nodding his head. Ossan stared off into the distance content to let the conversation lie for now, but Ichigo was growing very uncomfortable with the silence. The last thing that he needed after that little bit of information was thoughtful silence. Thankfully a rather loud and annoying distraction was sitting cross-legged further down the skyscraper watching the pair of them intently.

Ichigo shunpoed over to the other half of his zanpakutou. Shiro seemed rather annoyed as he fidgeted and shot death glares at the other two occupants of Ichigo's inner world. But he did do as he had promised and waited impatiently for Ichigo's Quincy lesson to be over.

Ichigo sighed. He had better address whatever was irritating the hollow before he found himself being brutally attack upon entry to his inner world, again. There were times when Shiro resembled a high maintenance bulldog rather than a piece of his soul.

"What's wrong with you?" Ichigo demanded of the hollow.

Taking the question as the signal of the end of the lesson Shiro jumped up to confront Ichigo. "What's wrong with me? Iz'at all ya gotta say?" The hollow demanded with clinched fists.

"Well yeah," Ichigo said. Shiro snarled in response. "Something is definitely wrong. I would like to know what it is so that I can try to fix it." He sighed. "Preferably before we start trying to kill each other again." Ichigo had grown rather fond of his hollowfied zanpakutou in a brotherly 'let's beat each other up' kind of way. He would prefer to keep things peaceful.

Shiro seemed to wilt at that point. All of his anger left him though the spark in his eyes promised a quick and violent return if Ichigo didn't fix this problem.

"You only ever come here anymore for your Quincy lessons," Shiro said with a pout.

Ichigo opened his mouth to yell at his inner hollow then clicked his jaw shut before he said anything that would turn this conversation into a blood bath. Shiro was still a hollow after all. He had only recently started explaining his frustrations without the use of a sword. Ichigo appreciated that. Also, Ichigo had realized that this was the same problem that had allowed Muramasa to walk off with Ossan in reverse.

"You're jealous?" Ichigo asked. He turned to Ossan who had been silently observing Shiro's temper tantrum. "You got jealous when I was more familiar with my hollow and Shinigami powers than my Quincy powers." Ossan nodded. Ichigo turned back to Shiro. "And now that I am learning about my Quincy powers, you are the jealous one." Ichigo rubbed his face with both hands wondering if there was another Shinigami with these types of problems.

"I'm insane," Ichigo said dropping his hands with a small disturbingly high pitched laugh. "There is no other explanation for it. "I am fucking insane."

"No ya ain't," Shiro huffed. He glared over at Ossan telling the older man with his eyes that this was all his fault. Ossan shrugged back.

"Yes I am," Ichigo said definitively. "We are ultimately the same being. What else would you call it when you are jealous of yourself?"

"It's not crazy to be happy." Shiro crossed his arms. "You just got a lot more selves to make happy than most people."

"You must learn to balance your powers to reach your full potential," Ossan added.

Ichigo stared at both his zanpakutou spirits. It was obvious that both of them thought that they were giving simple, reasonable explanations for his current mental state, but damned if it didn't sound crazy to him.

Back to basics then. He could deal with crazy spirit speak later. Shiro wanted to spend time with him now. "Okay, so what did you have in mind?"

Really he should have guessed the answer to that question. Shiro didn't even pause to think about it. "Let's spar," the hollow said perking up immediately. "It's been awhile since ya were able to cut loose. What do ya say?" He grinned at Ichigo. "Ya know ya wanna."

Ichigo considered that. It had been a while since he had had a real challenge. In brief, unguarded moments he even considered picking a fight with Kenpachi before his common sense reasserted itself. He grinned at Shiro. A spar really did sound good right about now. "Sure let's go."

Ichigo vaguely noticed that Ossan had disappeared. He always did when he and Shiro started fighting. He probably didn't want to be collateral damage.

"All right!" His hollow yelled gleefully as the white twins to Ichigo's Zangetsu materialized in his hands. "Now the Quincy said I couldn't fight you unless I taught you something too, so pay attention. Bankai!"

Ichigo immediately burst into action transforming into his bankai seconds after Shiro transformed into his. But those seconds cost him as he was hit full on with a Getsuga Tenshou. He managed to block a good portion of the damage using his blut vene, but a line of searing pain trailed across his shoulder. Ichigo frowned as his hollow regeneration picked up the slack and healed him. He would normally let a minor injury like that slide, but even though Shiro was no longer actively trying to kill him the concept of fair play still eluded the hollow. Ichigo was not going to begin the fight injured.

Before the wound had even closed Ichigo had engaged his hollow in a flurry of lighting swift strikes that did indeed send clashes of metallic thunder rolling though the skies as the two blades collided. The two fighter were equally matched in terms of their Shinigami powers, But evidently Shiro still had some things to show Ichigo when it came to his hollow abilities.

With crossed blades locked together in a test of strength the damn hollow used the manji tsuba of the blade to concentrate and fire a miniature bala straight into Ichigo's face. It wasn't powered up enough to do more than blind him momentarily and sting, but Ichigo did end up taking the flat side of the zanpakutou upside the head while he was dazed.

"What the hell?" He yelled at Shiro. "That was a dirty trick. Didn't you want to actually fight?"

Shiro laughed at him. "We, meaning Zangetsu, have decided to teach you more about your non-Shinigami abilities. I thought you would want to know what your hollow was capable of." Shiro reached up to the mask that covered the left side of his head. Ichigo watched as the broken mask fragment was pulled across and down materializing the full demon mask of Ichigo's inner hollow. Long white hair brushed across broad shoulders and lines like war paint stretched out from a full hollow hole in Shiro's bare chest down each arm and up into twin white lines on his black mask.

Ichigo had never seen this form before, only heard it described by both Orihime and Ishida. It was a truly terrifying monster. Ichigo wondered briefly if he had always had that monster within him or if it was just the byproduct of his hollofication. The mask grinned at him, and Shiro attacked.

Just like the other Visoreds the mask increased Shiro's power beyond Ichigo's normal abilities. His reiatsu also became much more hollow-like the red black tinge deepening to the color of blood.

_Aw crap, _Ichigo thought. He had never consciously used his full hollowfied form before, and after almost killing Ishida in that form, he wasn't sure he wanted to.

"Hey King." It was never a good thing when Shiro reverted to calling him King. Ichigo tensed in response. "Let me show you something cool."

Ichigo prepared to dodge 'something cool' usually cause him a great deal of pain.

The end of Shiro's blade began to glow red. But it was not a Getsuga Tenshou. It was a cero. With a grand sweep of his arm Shiro fired off a cero twice the size of a normal cero. "Awesome huh? Just like using your hollow powers to augment your Shinigami powers the opposite is true."

Ichigo wasn't paying attention to Shiro. The cero expanded in size as it came toward him. By the time it was withing three meters of him it was as big as a house. He poured every ounce of speed he had into his shunpo to get out of the way in time. He pointed the tip of his own Zangetsu at Shiro accusingly. "Hey! I thought you had stopped trying to kill me!" Ichigo screamed at his fierce looking hollow.

The hollow scoffed. "I have. Maybe ya really are crazy. I'm bein' nice ta ya an' everything, and ya cry about how I'm treatin' ya." He swept his white Zangetsu in a warning slash that radiated toward Ichigo as air pressure. "Ya know how this works! Now get off your ass an, prove yourself worth of using my power!"

Ichigo grunted in response. He gripped his sword in one hand and drew his other across his face completing his own mask.

Long hair brushed across his suddenly bare back. It was annoying.

If his inner hollow wanted to get it's ass kicked, Ichigo was game. He was the king here.

It didn't take long for the fight to escalate after that. Shiro kept Ichigo at a distance using Zangetsu and the hollow mask's horns to alternate charging ceros. It seemed that using Zangetsu to charge ceros lessened the charging time.

Ichigo dodged a continuous barrage. Every once in awhile he was able to send a cero Shiro's way from the tips of his own horns. That was simple enough to do. It was as if the horns were made to fire ceros. But Ichigo was having a hard time figuring out how to use Zangetsu to charge a cero. Ichigo started tossing Getsuga Tenshous. Using the blade for ceros couldn't be much different from Getsuga Tenshou. Energy was energy, right?

Shiro was getting impatient with Ichigo's inability to use Zangetsu for charge a cero. It had been a whole minute since he had shown Ichigo how it was done, and he still hadn't gotten it. He snorted in disgust and shot two ceros from the blade with a single swing. This was the easy stuff. None of that pansy Quincy centering and control necessary.

"Come on! Are you a hollow or not?" Shiro yelled.

Ichigo dodged the first cero and blocked the second. _Preferably not,_ Ichigo thought taking a defensive stance.

"You know it would probably be more helpful if you gave me some instruction!" He yelled back getting mad. Shiro tried to his him with six more ceros in rapid succession. Then the pasty bastard added a Getsuga Tenshou wrapped around a cero just to show off.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Shiro paused for a a second as if listening to someone speak. "Fine!" He snapped at nothing. It momentarily confused Ichigo before he realized that Shiro was talking to Ossan. The ceros stopped, and Shiro jabbed the tip of his blade into the glass. "You know how hollows learn most of their skills?" He asked tapping on foot impatiently.

"In battle?" Ichigo said. He wasn't really sure, but it seemed that Shiro was going with a theme here.

"Right," Shiro said charging an alarmingly gigantic cero between his horns. "Since when have I sat down and held your hand while I explain how everything works?"

Ichigo glared at his hollow with the intent o setting him on fire with his gaze. The beast had never done anything of the sort. Shiro beat the crap out of Ichigo until Ichigo did whatever was necessary to win.

The cero condensed suddenly into a ball half its original size and turned from bright red to a muddy red. Then expanded again as more energy wrapped around the original core.

"Fuck me," Ichigo said in resignation before disappearing in a shunpo he hoped would take him to the edge of the blast at the very least. Luckily the cero did miss, but he lost two skyscrapers to the blast. He watched as they crumbled and fell into the waters far below.

"Wow that was cool!" Shiro said landing next to him. Ichigo jumped. The hollow mask was very disconcerting up close. Never mind that he bore the same vestige.

"What the hell was that?" Ichigo demanded of Shiro.

"That," Shiro answered looking very proud of himself. "Was how Nel's Cero Doble works. She takes the original cero and wraps it in her own. I have never done anything like that before." He turned to face Ichigo and piked him with the tip of his blade. "Get it?"

There wasn't really anything that Ichigo could say to that. The very fact that hollows could evolve their own skills by mimicking other hollows was an earth shattering concept when you considered hollows to be mindless soul eating monsters, mostly meaning Shiro not Nel.

"So we could learn to puke healing goo?" Ichigo asked tentatively. It was a disgusting thought, but the ability would undoubtedly be useful.

"Hell no. You have to have the ability to begin with. Every hollow develops cero, and most learn to play with it." Shiro jabbed the hilt of his blade into Ichigo's solar plexus hard enough to make Ichigo double over gasping.

The flash of light of yet another cero blew him off his feet and, and he skidded to a stop half way 'down' the skyscraper. He lay for a second stunned. He should have known the fight wasn't over yet. He had yet to learn his newest skill, and just because Shiro was talking didn't mean he wasn't also fighting.

Ichigo pushed himself up and grabbed Zangetsu from where it had fallen next to him. Obviously he could see the move as often as he wanted from position of target. Shiro was happy to oblige, but he had to figure how the how for himself. Shiro was just a bastard sometimes. A cero flew past him close enough that he could feel the almost electrical feel of the blast. A warning shot, Shiro was in a good mood.

Ichigo paused. That feeling wasn't electrical. It was hollow. He had felt it in the reiatsu of every strong hollow he had ever met.

The hesitation almost got him killed. The next cero definitely wasn't a warning shot. Ichigo silently thanked his mother for passing along her insanely strong, and more importantly instantaneous blut vene, while he patted down his smoking clothes to make sure that there were no stray sparks.

"Don't think! Do!" Shiro screamed at him.

Something clicked in Ichigo's head and he reached for that faint electric feeling pulse within himself. It came automaticly when he used his horns, but he had been trying to use his Shinigami powers to form a cero through Zangetsu. He had to consciously switch what type of reiatsu he used when he wanted to combine his powers. Gathering his hollow reiatsu the same way he would his Shinigami reiatsu for a Getsuga Tenshou, he filled the blade. Within seconds a bright red light coalesced at the tip of the blade. Ichigo was pleased to note that Zangetsu doubled and then re doubled the energy as it traveled the length of the blade.

He didn't mean for the cero to be a fatal blow. Both he and Shiro had both agreed that they were far more powerful together than they ever would be separately. But Ichigo didn't think of that promise as he flung the powerful cero at Shiro's black hollow mask.

The cero shattered the right side of the mask. Ichigo gasped when he saw the raw burnt flesh across Shiro's temple and down his cheek. The grin on Shiro's face was ecstatic. He lifted his hand to reapply his mask even as his regenerative powers restored his face. "I don't have the luxury of layering blut vene over our awesome hierro, but it's going to take a lot more than that to defeat me, The hollow said cracking his neck.

"Really? That's what I've been doing?"

Shiro shook his head. "How about a real fight now?" He asked in his best impersonation of Kenpachi. He even rested the dull edge of his blade over his shoulder and assumed the same cocky stance.

Ichigo grunted and readied his blade. It figured.


	17. Chapter 17

1

Ichigo was ready to pull his hair out in frustration. He had never been very good at waiting and had assumed that once he had moved to the Soul Society things would start moving more quickly. Aizen, on the other hand saw fit to bide his time. Ichigo reluctantly came to the conclusion that Aizen had not been anywhere near making his move before Urahara had put the Hougyoku into Rukia. Even Urahara had been quiet beyond a couple more story sessions where Ichigo had explained in detail about breaking into Seireitei, Los Noches, and the King's Key.

It also surprised Ichigo to learn of the iron hold Aizen's "Perfect Taichou" persona had on Seireitei. There was nothing that he could see to give the man away. Everyone only had glowing words of praise for the Fifth Division Taichou. He was Punctual to meetings and even turned in all of his paper work on time. Aizen even spent his free time teaching at the Academy. He had even been dutifully teaching Ichigo kidou every week. Though this consisted mostly of Aizen giving him a handful of incantations and then showing Ichigo how much reiryoku to feed into each kidou.

"I do not have unlimited resources for you to burn through while you try to figure out an effective amount on your own." Aizen had told him with a mocking smile. He had handed Ichigo what looked like a light bulb. It even had a metal cap on the end. Aizen would hold the metal end and let his reiryoku flow into the bulb lighting it up. The brightness of the light indicated the amount of reiryoku used. Aizen would then sit back and watch Ichigo try his best to match the brightness.

The rest of his schedule was split between hakuda lessons with Sui-Feng, who had all but drafted him into the Second Division, and teaching a squad of new recruits fresh to the Fifth zanjutsu.

Aizen's third-seat, Higashi Ryota, was supposed to be in charge of their training and helping them to achieve shikai. He was a handsome man, a pampered noble, and a blatant opportunist. At Ichigo's first lesson Ryota had asked in a bored tone of voice if Ichigo would rather watch than participate in the practice duels. The expression on his face said quite plainly that he was hoping that Ichigo would sit quietly and not get in his way.

Ichigo sized the third-seat up and then declared that he would rather fight the strongest graduate in the squad. Ryota had been hesitant at first, but ended up reluctantly allowing the duel. He told Ichigo that he was not going to stop the class if he got himself hurt. It had not been much of a fight. Ichigo was handed a wooden sword and told to set aside his zanpakutou. Ichigo declined to remove Zangetsu, but did take the wooden blade with a look of distaste. He thought that it was a complete waste of time. Most of the six graduates had not learned their zanpakutou's names yet. Fighting with Asauichi instead of the wooden swords would only strengthen their bonds with their zanpakutou in Ichigo's opinion. Besides, what if their shikai wasn't even a sword?

Ichigo took his place across from a small girl with long black hair. Ryota's arm dropped signaling the beginning of the duel, and then the girl's sword was snapped in half before she even thought to move. She stared dumbly at the ruined sword still trying to figure out what had happened.

Ryota stared at Ichigo stunned for all of two seconds before a gleam entered his eyes. From that day forward Ichigo was drafted as Ryota's teaching assistant. Most of the time Ichigo ended up teaching the new squad by himself while Ryota attended to his other "duties," like his girlfriend. Ichigo forgave him only because Ryota had somehow managed to procure Ichigo and actual asauichi to infuse Zangetsu into. It had turned out that obtaining an asauichi was very difficult. Evidently they weren't just kept in the armory for when they were needed.

Ichigo had not known how to infuse a zanpakutou into an asauichi, but both Ossan and Shiro assured him that all he had to do was sleep with it lying at his side and, they would do the rest. The next morning Ichigo had woken up with Zangetsu next to him in shikai form and not asauichi, or rather the two had somehow become one in the night.

Ichigo actually came to enjoy working with the new recruits after that. He had acquired a very unique training experience from the word "go" as a Shinigami and was pleasantly surprised that with a bit of revision so that he was not breaking any laws or attempting to kill any of the recruits that training could be effectively passed on to others.

The first thing he had done after Ryota had left him in charge was tell the squad of six that they would be training with their asauichi only. He explained that it would be a waste of time training with a wooden sword as he had yet to find one capable of killing a hollow. Then he had taken each individual, starting with the bravest, and taught them in the time honored way that Urahara had trained him to achieve his shikai. He scared the shit out of them. Most of the squad flinched when they passed him in the halls now, but no one quit because it was hard to argue with the results.

Today was one of the days when Ichigo would be teaching by himself. Ryota had already told him earlier that he had a lunch date with his girlfriend and would not be there. Ichigo shook his head as he walked to the usual training yard for the squad. Some people just did not deserve the responsibility of a high ranking position.

Ichigo was so intent on his plan to scare the last of his students -the thought of him having students still made him grin- into learning her shikai that he did not, at first, notice Aizen standing in front of the sheepish and sweating squad. When he finally noticed the man Ichigo stopped and glared at Aizen with a challenge in his eyes.

Aizen merely pushed up his drooping glasses and gave him a bright smile. His tough but fair persona firmly in place. "Imagine my surprise," He said dryly. "When I find my third seat speeding out of his office to a lunch date rather than performing his duties to train the Academy graduates." Ichigo felt he was being lectured by one of those completely unrealistic sitcom dads. "It turns out," Aizen continued gravely. "That he had been leaving early for weeks. Now imagine my surprise growing exponentially when Ryota told me that he had been having you train the new recruits so that he could pursue his latest conquest."

Ichigo huffed indignantly to the surprise and terror of the new recruits. "So am I in trouble now too?"

Aizen's smile widened. "No, you are not, but we will be having words over this." He turned back to the squad. They all snapped to attention. "You are dismissed for the rest of the day." training continues as usual tomorrow." He waited patiently while they scrambled for the exit. "Come with me," He said once they were gone. Aizen did not bother to wait for Ichigo to catch up with him as he headed for his office.

Ichigo followed slowly on purpose just to annoy Aizen. Once he finally entered the office Aizen began to speak once more dropping the nice guy attitude as he did so. "You do realize that I have spent over a century trying to undermine the power of the Gotei, don't you?"

Ichigo leaned back against the wall next to the door as Aizen sat at his desk. "I thought that might have something to do with it," he answered with a shrug. "That third seat of yours is too self absorbed to hold the rank he does."

"Of course," Aizen said. "But now I have the problem of you pushing rank and file Shinigami to achieve shikai. All of those years of hard work will be undone if you keep this up."

"So? It's not like achieving shikai is all that hard. When I first got here I thought every Shinigami could do it. I'm kind of surprised that most of them can't."

Aizen felt his jaw tighten. Ichigo seemed to think that something that took most Shinigami years to do could be done in a few days time. "Learning shikai is not something to shrug off. It is a significant step toward realizing one's full power. Already there is talk in the other divisions of your ability to help others achieve shikai." Aizen took a deep breath to calm himself. "But it does not benefit me to do anything to stop this development at this time."

Ichigo chewed on his bottom lip. Clearly he had accidentally agitated Aizen in some way, but the man was not bothered enough to change his plans. "What's your game?"

"You will continue to train the new recruits," Aizen said. "It is difficult for a competent taichou like myself to argue with results. I would not want to make the others suspicious of my motives."

"Wait, I'm going to continue teaching?" Ichigo asked blankly. He knew the question he had asked, and he knew that Aizen had understood what he had really meant. Just as he was coming to understand that Aizen was really good at side stepping any subject he did not want to talk about.

"Yes, of course. Someone has to teach the new recruits while my third-seat joins the Fourth Division sewer cleaning crew for the next two months," Aizen said dryly.

"Why is he being punished while I am not?" Ichigo asked. He really hated it when Aizen took control of their conversations this way, but short of drawing Zangetsu and demanding answers he hadn't thought of a way to get Aizen to stop dodging his questions.

"You beating up new recruits is acceptable. My senior officer pawning his work off on a child is not."

Ichigo winced. It was fair to punish Ryota, but it still rankled when Aizen had a valid point. Just when he was about to ask once again what Aizen was really up to there was a frantic knocking on the office door.

"Come in," Aizen called.

Hinamori pulled open the door and shot past Ichigo into the room. He eyes shifted nervously between Aizen and Ichigo. She shifted indecisively for a moment before drawing herself up and facing Aizen squarely. "Taichou, I have heard what happened, and I'm sure that Ichigo was only doing as he was told. He didn't mean..."

Aizen held up his hand to stop the deluge of words. Hinamori had the most annoying habit of babbling when she tried to explain something. "Ichigo-kun is not in trouble. In fact, he seems to be doing a better job of training the recruits that Ryota ever did."

"Oh really?" Hinamori said with a sly grin at Ichigo. She puffed up with pride. "Ichigo-kun is so very gifted."

Ichigo cocked his head to the side wondering what she was so proud of. Hinamori's eyes were glittering at him. He almost fell over when the realization hit him. She was proud _of him._

"He truly is," Aizen agreed cryptically. "I am even going to allow him to continue teaching. I see no reason to prevent it as long as he can keep up with his kidou."

"Only his kidou? What about his other lessons?" Hinamori asked out loud before she could censor herself. "Ah! Sorry Taichou."

"No no," Aizen said smiling indulgently at Hinamori. Ichigo snorted softly. Here they went again. It was like watching someone with their favorite pet. "I understand your concern, but I have been watching Ichigo-kun train." That made Ichigo stand up straighter in surprise. Aizen pinned him with his gaze. "He is far advanced in both hakuda and zanjutsu if very unrefined. His shunpo is faster than most Taichou. The only thing that he seriously lacks in in kidou, and even there he is learning at an alarming rate." His brow wrinkled in consternation and heaved a long suffering sigh. "Though his form leaves much to be desired."

"What's wrong with my kidou now?" Ichigo asked exasperated. This wouldn't be the first time he had been subjected to Aizen's perfectionist ways. "I've learned every kidou you have taught me."

Aizen leveled a stare at Ichigo. "Yes, of course," He said sarcasm dripping from his words. "But 'Oh ye dog of rododo- dammit shakkahou' leaves much to be desired when it comes to finesse."

Ichigo flushed as Hinamori hid a giggle with her hand. She had watched Ichigo practice several times, and his habit of trading the incantations altogether with curses was well known to her. It was a very unique way to learn kidou in her opinion. "Maybe you should be teaching him how to drop the incantations altogether. He doesn't seem to need them anyway," She suggested.

"Mm, I will think about it," Aizen said absently. He was already thinking of something else. "I'll leave him with you for the rest of the day. Do try to keep him out of trouble, please."

"Yes Taichou," Hinamori said with a bow.

Ichigo only scowled and barely restrained himself from making a rude gesture at Aizen's easy dismissal. It wasn't that he really wanted to spend quality time with Aizen. The man really was a prick when he didn't have to play nice, but outside of his kidou lessons and the run in today it was as if the man did not exist. Ichigo was finding it increasingly frustrating to have so little access to what Aizen was doing. He contemplated once again just killing Aizen and being done with it. Hinamori wouldn't even know what happened until his body hit the floor.

Hinamori pulled Ichigo out of the office while he was trying to talk himself out of being a rash idiot.

"I guess you have a free day," Hinamori said wistfully. Ichigo Turned to glance at her. She looked even more tired than usual.

"I don't have to stay with you?" Ichigo asked. He was pretty sure that Aizen had meant for Hinamori to keep an eye on him. Hinamori always did what Aizen said.

Hinamori stared zombie-like down the hall. "It's that time of the year again where the Sou-taichou audits the divisions," She said with a haunted expression. "They always want to see the paperwork." She heaved a sigh. "It's not like you start blowing things up the moment my back is turned. And I have to finish reorganizing a years worth of paperwork because the clerical staff needs to be tied up and tortured into filing properly. Her eyes burned briefly with a blood lust that made Ichigo back up a step.

Hinamori's eyes cleared almost instantly and she smiled at him and clapped him on the back. Ichigo had grown even more since his visit to the Fourth. He was now about the same height he was when he was fifteen, and this whole mess began. Not only that but the bigger he got the less Hinamori treated him like a child. He grind speculatively. Maybe that was Toushirou's main problem.

"I can probably keep myself entertained," He answered. Entertained meant searching for Rukia and maybe hopping over the the Sixth Division to bug Renji. Rukia was proving impossible to find. It turned out that after Kaien's death she had all but become a recluse. He had found this out listening to Hinamori, Matsumoto and sometimes Yachiru -when Hinamori was making cookies- gossip about it. He had also found out to his surprise that Kaien had't died all that long ago. From the way everyone had talked about him in his own time line Ichigo had assumed that he had died fifty or even a hundred years ago. It turned out that Shinigami were terrible at keeping track of time. Kaien had died less that twenty years ago. Right after Isshin had disappeared. It would explain why Aizen had targeted his cousin if Kaien had been investigating the disappearance of his dad. Rukia was still grieving and evidently hiding.

"Mm, as long as you stay out of trouble," Hinamori said absently pulling Ichigo out of his thoughts. She weaved her way toward her office in a stumbling shuffle.

It was almost enough to activate Ichigo's protective instincts and have him swooping in to help her. Hinamori was exhausted, but he had learned the hard way that Hinamori had a system for her paperwork and any "help" that was offered was viciously shot down in flames. Paperwork only multiplied when you had "help." Ichigo had already sworn off taking any seated position in the Gotei 13 on grounds of too much paperwork.

He shook his head and shunpoed to the Thirteenth Division barracks before his instincts could get him in trouble. It did't matter how exhausted Hinamori was; she was a paperwork demon.

Once he was at the Thirteenth Ichigo slowed to an ambling walk. He had been trying to search the division discreetly, which meant not stopping the first person he saw and demanding that they take him to Rukia. Progress was slow. A few Shinigami taking a break under one of the trees waved at him when they recognized him. Ichigo waved back. He had been here so much that people were starting to recognize him. At least the grounds around the Thirteenth were so beautiful that many people in Seireitei chose to walk along the paths. The scenery alone was his excuse to wander around almost daily.

Ichigo meandered about peeking superstitiously into open doors and windows and into training yards hoping Rukia would be in one of them. It really was a nice division he mused as he wandered. It was more laid back than the Fifth Division and somehow calmer. Though just as many Shinigami bustled about with papers and ran flat out to meetings just a few minutes too late. It must be all the greenery, Ichigo thought taking a deep breath. Though he had never spent much time out in nature it was having a profound effect on him.

"No! It's my turn to serve Taichou's tea!"

It was the only warning Ichigo had before he was all but trampled by two sets of feet. The world slipped sideways and there was a loud crashing noise. Two complete tea sets hit the paving stones at the same time shattering into a million pieces.

Ichigo sat up slowly his anger spiking. He wasn't hurt at all. His hierro had done it's job. He looked up to see two Shinigami, one male the other maybe female, sprawled on the path ahead of him with dumbfounded looks on their faces.

_Oh, it's those two, _Ichigo thought referring to Ukitake's third seats. He could not remember their names only how annoying they were with their stupid competition for their taichou's favor.

"Kiyone, Sentarou," Ukitake's voice floated down the path. Undoubtedly there to see what all the noise was about. "While your enthusiasm is commendable, I think that you owe this young man an apology." He came into view with an indulgent, almost fatherly, smile gracing his features. Shunsui studied the scene from behind him a slightly more sardonic smile peeking from under his sakkat.

_Why are you encouraging them? _Ichigo moaned internally.

The two third-seats simultaneously jack-knifed to their feet. "Yes Taichou! Sorry Taichou!" They yelled in unison bowing first to Ukitake and then to Ichigo and yelled another apology at the top of their lungs.

_Make them stop. _Ichigo wasn't even sure if that was him, Shiro or Ossan.

Ukitake nodded approvingly to his beaming subordinates. "Now why don't you get us some more tea and an extra cup for our guest." There was a delicate cough from behind him. "And Shunsui's usual," He added with a roll of his eyes. "You will be joining us of course," He said smiling at Ichigo. "As an apology from me."

Ichigo resisted the urge to snort. One thing that Hinamori had managed to beat into his skull was that you never turned down an invitation from a taichou, ever. "Sure," He said as casually as he could. He couldn't help but think that he had been caught in his snooping, and now he was going to have to sit through a speech about how disappointed Ukitake was with him. He couldn't exactly pinpoint why he felt that way, but he did.

Ichigo followed the two taichou down the path to a small gazebo and reluctantly sat on one of the cushions. He had never have very much contact with either taichou before, even though they had been the ones who had first helped him in his own timeline. Ichigo did not think that they would be inclined toward treason at this point or know how to ask for their help if they were.

"It is a lovely day to be in the gardens." Ukitake sat across from him while Shunsui took a seat to his left. "I have noticed that you have taken a liking to them as well."

Ichigo blinked at Ukitake and glanced at Shunsui. "Yes, they are very nice."

Ukitake smiled at him reassuringly. "Did Aizen-taichou tell you about them?"

_Why the hell would Aizen tell me about a bunch of plants? _"Uh no, Aizen... taichou is a very busy man. I spend most of my time on my own."

"I see," Ukitake paused for a second as if unsure what to say next. He glanced over at Shunsui who tilted his head slightly in answer. "Well, if you would ever like a tour of my division all you have to do is ask."

Ichigo sat back in surprise. "Yeah that sounds great."

Shunsui snorted. "Juu-chan, I don't think he is up to the level of intrigue that you think he is." He tilted his sakkat back to reveal a grin.

Ichigo leaned back and frowned. Right, Aizen and gardens and spying, just got to connect the dots.

"We are just wondering about you. You are such an odd character," Shunsui continued.

Ichigo swallowed. Most of his information on these two of the eldest taichou was second hand. None of it revealed this side of them, but Ichigo wasn't really all that surprised. "You guys don't trust me," He said bluntly.

"You must understand, the circumstances surrounding your arrival are strange, and you have been visiting more than just my division on a regular basis," Ukitake explained. "We are not saying that you mean any harm, but others near you may not be so polite."

Well if that wasn't a statement of distrust in Aizen's motives then all of Ossan's hard work of beating half lies and shades of meaning into his head had gone completely to waste. Ichigo studied the two taichou who were gazing at him intently in turn. After a short pause Ichigo decided to be as honest as he could with these two. If they could pick up on a wrongness in everything Aizen did then lying to them would be disastrous. Also, having these two on his side when the time came would go a long way toward not getting himself killed by his future allies.

"I'm not here to spy on training techniques or anything like that," Ichigo said rolling his eyes. That endeavor would be a complete waste of time and both captains knew it. Every division was required to log all training schedules that were then duplicated and sent to every other division. Ichigo couldn't get anything peeking into dojos that an afternoon's worth of reading couldn't did up. "Besides anyone smart enough to do something illegal under the Sou-taichou's nose would be doing it a long way form Seireitei." Ichigo held his breath and waited for the two men to absorb that bit of information.

Ukitake and Shunsui traded telepathic looks over his head. "Then why are you so interested in the 13th?" Ukitake asked.

Ichigo chewed his lip before deciding that sticking with the truth, or as much of it as he could would be a good idea. "I'm looking for someone."

"Ah and who might that be?" Ukitake said a furrow creasing his brow.

Ichigo kicked himself mentally. Lying would be so much easier. "Her name is Rukia. She helped me out once, and I heard that she was in your division."

"So you have been wandering around hoping to spot her?" Shunsui asked in an amused voice.

Ichigo spread his hands. "It was the best idea I had. It's not like I want her to think I'm a stalker or something because I asked everyone about her. Hell, she probably wont even remember me."

Shunsui was now laughing at him. At least the tension was gone now.

Ukitake sighed heavily. "But why all the other divisions then?" He was going to ignore the stalking comment for now and give Rukia a heads up later.

Ichigo scowled. Ukitake was a dog with a bone. "That's all coincidence."

"Really? You are at almost all of the various club meetings held at different divisions, and at any division party."

"With Yachiru," Ichigo pointed out. "She just drags me from snack table to snack table. I don't even remember what most of those events were for."

Shunsui giggled. Even Ukitake looked amused at the admission.

"To young love," Shunsui tried to toast but frowned when he realized that he had yet to receive any sake. "Juu-chan," He whined.

"Give them some time. You know how they are." Ukitake said winking at Ichigo. Ichigo blinked before realizing that he was talking about the third-seats. "You will forgive us for the mistrust? And the late refreshments wont you?"

Ichigo nodded graciously, at least he thought so, while glaring for all he was worth at Shunsui.

Shunsui waved the edge of his pink haori in a gesture of surrender. It was then that the two third-seats tromped into the room with dangerously rattling porcelain and purposefully trying to step on each other's feet. The whole display set Ichigo's teeth on edge.

"I'm serving the Taichou today! It's my turn!" Sentarou screamed into Kiyone's face.

"You always say it's your turn, and you always do it wrong!" Kiyone yelled right back.

Ukitake heaved a long suffering sigh that had both third-seats immediately at attention an presenting their trays a gracefully as any Kuchiki servant. "Please set the trays over here and attend to your other duties," He smiled at them and batted his eyelashes. Ichigo's own eye twitched. "I would not want you to neglect your work because of me."

"Oh no Taichou, it isn't a problem for _me_ to serve you," Kiyone said putting a heavy emphasis on the me.

"What about that giant stack of paperwork sitting on your desk?" Sentarou stage whispered into her ear.

"It's only there because you keep pawning your work off onto me," Kiyone said with a growl.

"Ma, you both have so much to do," Ukitake broke in smoothly. "I will be fine as long as Shunsui and Ichigo-kun are here."

Both third-seats thought about that logic for a second but couldn't come up with a reasonable argument to allow them to stay. "Yes Taichou!" They yelled in unison before bowing low and racing off to go torture someone else. Ichigo rubbed his eyes. He didn't care how rude it looked. Those two hurt his head.

"You have got to promote one of them soon," Shunsui said already sipping at his sake. "Then we could finally have some peace."

Ukitake took his time pouring out two cups of tea for himself and Ichigo before answering. "It would be nice if the arguments stopped," He said carefully. "But I am afraid that if I promote one and not the other their arguments would turn viscous and not just competitive. Whichever I promote, the other will harbor resentment. That would be bad for the division." He held out a tea cup for Ichigo.

"Thank you," Ichigo said taking the cup. Now that he had passed whatever test the two men had concocted they seemed content to sit in silence. That was fine by Ichigo. He rarely seemed to have anytime for reflective silence anymore. He let himself relax and watch the bees pollinate some nearby flowers. He didn't even notice Shunsui and Ukitake trading amused looks over his head.

"There is something I wanted to ask you two," Ichigo said after a while. Both men were startled out of their own contemplations.

"Ask us specifically?" Ukitake asked raising his eyebrow.

"You are the only other dual wielders in Seireitei," Ichigo said. His fingers brushed against Zangetsu's larger blade lying at his side.

"I see," Shunsui said. "I take it that it is not a question that could be answered by those with a single blade."

"Or a single spirit," Ichigo said. "I just wanted to know if a zanpakutou's spirits could, you know, be jealous of each other."

Shunsui laughed into his sake cup. "I have two women living in my head. What do you think?"

Ichigo scratched his own head. What did women have to do with it?

"What he means," Ukitake said seeing Ichigo's confusion. "Is that yes zanpakutou spirits are very capable of being jealous of each other and even jealous of other Shinigami. Sougyo no Kotowari insists on equal attention just like my third-seats," He finished with a wry smile.

"But more than likely they will not need equal amounts of attention," Shunsui added. "There is a fine line between attention and annoying."

"Oh," Ichigo sat back to think about that. "It's about balance." He had heard Zangetsu mention balance between his Quincy and Hollow before. Maybe this was a part of it.

"Yes, it is," Ukitake said giving him an encouraging smile.

"So I'm not crazy," Ichigo said to himself. The other two men laughed softly, and the three of them went back to silent contemplation.


	18. Chapter 18

Author's Note:

I know this chapter is shorter than usual, but I took some time off from writing for the holiday and thought that half a chapter would be better than none. I should be posting the other half in about a week or so.

1

"Hurry up. We are going to be late," Yachiru screamed in Ichigo's ear momentarily throwing off his equilibrium. He got lucky and recovered quickly. He only slid down a couple of roof tiles before catching his footing again. Yachiru tightened her grip on his shoulder. Ever since Ichigo had regained his full height Yachiru had been riding on his shoulder just as much as she did on Kenpachi's.

"Why am I suddenly required to go to a SWA meeting with you?" Ichigo growled. He was fairly sure that the smart thing to do would have been to say no when Yachiru had told him her plans for the day, but that had never worked out well for him in the past. He had said yes for love of life and limb.

"Because Ise had scheduled the meeting during Yachi/Ichi time." The pink haired menace explained patiently "I was very inconsiderate of her, but she said it fit in best with everyone's schecdual. Turn left here."

Ichigo ignored the instruction. He could see the Kuchiki grounds from here. There was no reason to get lost now. "We could have just rescheduled Yachi/Ichi time." Ichigo cringed at the name. It implied far to much for his liking, such as Kenpachi gutting him in the near future. He leaped to the top of the Kuchiki garden wall and disappeared into the foliage of the garden before the guards on duty had a chance to see him.

"Why would we do that?" Yachiru asked genuinely puzzled. To her Yachi/Ichi time was as inevitable as the sun rise.

Ichigo pushed aside the shoji door of the small building that served as the meeting place for the Shinigami Woman's Association. He stopped in the door way as all eyes in the room locked on him. Various expressions ranging from offence to dismay colored every upturned face. Ichigo was the only male in the room. He felt distinctly outnumbered.

"Oh good, it's just Ichigo," Matsumoto said with a cheerful smile and a wave. "For a second there I thought you were Kuchiki-taichou."

"But men are not allowed," Nemu pointed out from where she was kneeling off to the side. "The by-laws say "no men allowed.'"

"Except Ichigo," Yachiru said. Her head shot up over Ichigo's shoulder. She glared at Nemu. "I changed that rule last week."

"Don't you need three senior members to sign off on new laws?" Nemu went on doggedly ever a stickler for protocol.

"I signed off on it," Hinamori said with a helpful smile. She had thought it would be a great idea.

"So did I!" Mastumoto sang. "Ichigo is so cute. I motion to make him our mascot!"

Ichigo growled at her in response.

"I signed as well," Unohana said serenely from her spot next to Isane. She calmly sipped at her tea as all heads turned to her hopeful for an explanation.

"Why?" Nemu asked blinking slowly.

Unohana's lips quirked for a brief instant. "It amuses me."

Ichigo ducked his head in embarrassment. The world was against him. He felt a tug on his had interrupting his fervent prayer for the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

"Cone on. Ise needs to put up the silencing barrier before the guards circle back," Yachiru said.

Ichigo nodded a stumbled forward. Ise quickly closed the door behind him and started muttering complex incantations under her breath that sounded way above Ichigo's level. He noticed that several of the lower ranked Shinigami were giggling behind cupped hands and batting their eyelashes at him when they caught him looking. He coughed uncertain and looked away. Fresh giggles filled the air. Ichigo swallowed hard. Girls had never flirted with him in high school. His reputation preceded him, and most girls had stayed as far away from him as they could. He wasn't sure how to handle this situation.

Ichigo was concentrating so hard on not paying attention to the girls that he almost missed Sui-Feng trying to kick his legs out from under him. He barely felt her foot brush his ankle in time to tumble forward into a roll. He jumped up ready for a follow up attack amid several gasps and wide eyes. Many of the lower ranked Shinigami in the room had not even seen Sui-Feng move.

The short taichou stood with a pleased smile on her face. "Your ability to adapt to an attack under any circumstances still impresses me," She informed him. "If you wish, there will be a spot open for you in the Second Division as soon as you graduate."

Ichigo wrinkled his nose at the thought of joining the Second Division. While it was only a good thing to get a recommendation from a taichou there was no way he was going to join the Second Division.

"Thank you," was all he said with a slight bow. He hoped that she would not insist on an answer now.

Sui-Feng only tilted her head to the side considering him before nodding. It seemed that she understood that he had no stomach for the work the Onmistukidou took part in. She returned to her seat next to Unohana, opposite Isane.

"Come sit over here, Ichigo-kun," Hinamori called patting a mat between her and Matsumoto. Ichigo scanned the room for Yachiru who was piling a plate full of cookies at the snack table. He nodded to Hinamori and weaved his way between the groups of girls while trying hard not to feel so out of place. At least Hinamori and Matsumoto were familiar territory. He sank down gratefully between the two women placing Shiro Zangetsu's blade between himself and Matsumoto.

"I'm surprised Yachiru got you to come," Hinamori said as Ichigo made himself as comfortable as he could while feeling like he was on display in a zoo.

"She didn't tell me where we were going until we were half way here," Ichigo grumbled.

Matsumoto giggled. "So she said 'Ichigo let's go' and you said 'okay' with out even asking where?"

Ichigo shifted guiltily. That was exactly how it had happened. He opened his mouth to deny it anyway when a loud crack of wood on wood filled the room. Everyone looked toward the podium at the end of the room where Yachiru stood with a gavel in one hand and a cookie in the other.

"I officially call this meeting of the Shinigami Women's Association to order," She said dutifully. "Nanao, if you would read the minutes from the last meeting." She jumped down from the podium her official duty done.

"Right," Nanao said taking Yachiru's place.

Yachiru graciously stepped down in favor of her plate of cookies. She disappeared from view, and Ichigo suddenly felt her weight settle on his back and heard munching in his ear. He sighed and tried to make room for her between himself and Matsumoto, but she wasn't moving.

Matsumoto winked at him over Yachiru's head.

Nanao adjusted her glasses before she started reading from her notes. "In the last meeting we were discussing the possibility of rebuilding the club swimming pool and ways to spice up the Official Taichou Calendar. As it stands we still need to decide where the pool is to be built and come up with an idea for the calendar that wont get the lot of us fired." Nanao looked up at the assembled group. "Is there any new business that anyone would like to add?"

One of the girls Ichigo did not know raised her hand. She had blond hair in pigtails and reminded Ichigo vaguely of a very tame Hiyori.

"Why is there a man here?"She asked curiously.

Ichigo blushed again as every eye swiveled back to him. Did the girl really have to say it like that?

Yachiru brushed the last cookie's remains from her hands and answered for Nanao who was obviously floundering around for an explanation. "I invited him because this is when we spend time together." She grinned around the room. Ichigo tried to sink down between Hinamori and Matsumoto and the meeting moved on. Most of the SWA had learned that their president's word was law, whether it made sense or not.

Hinamori leaned over and nudged Ichigo with her elbow. "It's so cute," She whispered.

Ichigo groaned. "I know what you are thinking. She is way too young for me." He ignored the part of him that snarked that Yachiru was in fact at least thirty years older than he was. He felt Yachiru still to better listen in on their conversation.

Hinamori shrugged with an evil grin for Matsumoto. "You have time. In another decade or so she will be old enough."

"Will Kenpachi-taichou also be dead in ten years?" Matsumoto asked amusement coloring her voice. "I can see him being an over protective father type.

Yachiru shook her head in denial. "Ken-chan is going to live forever."

"Oh stop it, Ran-chan," Hinamori admonished. "Kenpachi-taichou would be glad to have Ichigo looking after Yachiru once Ichigo wins the fight Kenpachi-taichou promised him." Ichigo sighed at the reminder. "It's Madarame that I'm more worried about," Hinamori finished thoughtfully.

"Jealous love or hyper vigilant babysitter?" Matsumoto asked. To Ichigo's horror she actually sounded serious.

"Hyper vigilant babysitter, of course." Hinamori didn't even bat a lash as she answered.

"Would you two please stop talking about my imaginary love life/death," Ichigo demanded glaring at both women. "And why the hell does it sound like a comedy?"

Ichigo snorted and stared resolutely down at the mat in front of him. His options for distraction here were few. He found himself wishing that the meeting was already over. He was concentrating so hard on his sitting mat that he barely registered the feet that planted themselves aggressively in front of him. Hinamori and Matsumoto both stopped bickering over his head as a throat cleared loudly. Ichigo's head snapped up. He would recognize that disdain anywhere.

Wide violet eyes widened in astonishment. It was Rukia. Ichigo opened his mouth to say something and snapped it shut the next instant. He had been looking for her for so long, and only now did he realize that he did not know what he had wanted to say. What exactly did one say to the person who had changed one's life forever. Rukia was the reason he was even here now. If she had not walked though his bedroom wall all those years ago, he would know nothing about his heritage or the after life. And she didn't even have a clue.

"Taichou was right," Rukia said thickly. "You do look exactly like him." Tears shown in her eyes for a second as she remembered Kaien. The she sniffed and pulled herself up to her full height resting her hand on her zanpakutou's hilt. "He also said that you have been looking for me."

"Is that true?" Hinamori asked before Ichigo could gather himself together enough to speak. "Do you know Rukia-chan?"

Ichigo spared a quick glance around the room. The meeting hand ground to a halt, and everyone was watching the drama unfolding. He wished that there were less witnesses to his first meeting with Rukia.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do," Ichigo said without looking at Hinamori.

"Love-triangle," he heard Matsumoto whisper from his right and resisted the urge to face-palm.

Rukia snorted. "I don't know him at all," She said to Hinamori, who now looked as if she wished that she had not spoken up at all. "All I know is what Ukitake-taichou told me."

"Oh that's interesting," Hinamori said faintly looking at Ichigo for a clue.

"You probably wont remember me," Ichigo hedged choosing his words carefully. He did not want to out right lie to his oldest Shinigami friend, but he had no way to prove to her that he was who he was. "we met outside of Seireitei."

"Try again. There is no way I would forget that hair," Rukia said crossing her arms. "Are you a pervert?"

"Hey!" Hinamori immediately leaped to Ichigo's defense. "Ichigo may be a lot of things, but he is not a pervert."

Ichigo frowned. What exactly was 'a lot of things' anyway?

Rukia snorted derisively obviously not believing a word of it.

"Ichi-chan isn't a pervert," Yachiru yelled. "Stop being mean."

"It's true you know," Matsumoto said breaking up the glaring match between Rukia and Yachiru. "He barely even glances at my girls." She crossed her arms under her breasts and pushed them up for emphasis. Ichigo's eyes bounced up to a safe spot on the ceiling, and he started to count backwards from ten. "See," Matsumoto said gesturing at him.

Rukia dropped her arms. "Maybe he doesn't like big..." She flapped her hand at Matsumoto unable to actually say breasts. "And it doesn't explain how he knows me."

"True," Hinamori said. "How do you know Rukia, Ichigo? Could it be from studying the noble families?"

"No," Ichigo said rubbing his hand nervously along Zangetsu. "Do you think that we could speak in privet? He was hyper aware of everyone in the room staring at them. They weren't even pretending to hold a meeting anymore.

"No," Rukia shot back, ice cold.

Ichigo briefly entertained the idea of kicking her again. It had really opened her up the first time they had met. "So you wont believe anything that I say no matter what it is?" He said a hairs breath from snapping.

"Nope." Rukia recrossed her arms.

"Okay then," Ichigo said carelessly. "We have been good friends for years, and I even saved your life once. Oh and you used to live in my closet," Ichigo snapped glaring at Rukia. He did't really care what she thought of what he said. Why was she being so difficult? She was supposed to be his friend, not a complete stranger. Ironically the first meeting with his parents had gone much easier than this. At least then he didn't have the burning realization of loss. His family would always be his family, but right now he had no ties at all to any of his friends.

"So you are a crazy pervert?" Rukia made a disgusted noise and stomped off while Ichigo was still trying to sort himself out.

"Why would you say something like that?" Hinamori asked smacking Ichigo on the arm. "She probably didn't appreciate you lying to her like that, and it was so crude."

Matsumoto nodded in agreement. You will never get the girl if you like like that. The point is to at least make it plausible."

Both Ichigo and Hinamori stared at her. Matsumoto shrugged back sheepishly.

"But Ichi-chan wasn't lying," Yachiru said.

"You can tell that?" Ichigo asked surprised. He had thought that no one would have believed that. In all honesty he had only said it to piss Rukia off.

Yachiru nodded. "People's reiatsu does weird things when they lie."

"What kind of things?" Hinamori asked curious.

Yachiru hummed, "Like when Ran-chan drinks too much and tries to dance."

Matsumoto blushed. "You don't have to describe it like that," She pouted.

Nanao cleared her throat making all four of them jump. "Now that that is over with," She glared at Ichigo as if the whole thing were his fault. "We can get back to discussing this year's calendar..."

The meeting continued and much to Ichigo's relief everyone was content to ignore him in favor of planning how to get candid pictures of all of the taichou. Evidently Byakuya and Tousen were notoriously difficult to catch. Pretty soon the meeting ended and Ichigo stood up to leave. Yachiru hitched a ride on his shoulder and Matsumoto and Hinamori followed him into the street.

"So Ichigo, when are you going to be heading off to the academy?" Matsumoto asked brightly. "If they were waiting for you to grow up, I think your'e there," She said grinning up at him.

Hinamori jumped. "Oh, that's right. I was supposed to tell you that you would be joining the new class next semester."

Ichigo looked at her in surprise. "Aizen gotten tired of me already?" He asked with a grin.

"Aizen-_taichou," _Hinamori corrected for the thousandth time.

Ichigo was about to respond when Yachiru jumped off his shoulder. Everyone stopped as she planted her hands on her hips and scrunched up her face at Hinamori. "He can't leave yet. We wont be able to play together anymore. And Ken-chan says the academy is stupid anyway."

"It's not stupid-" Hinamori began to lecture, but Ichigo put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. He was used to dealing with this. Yachiru wasn't mad about him going to the school at all. She just didn't want to be abandoned by him. He had had to deal with this with Yuzu every time school started up again until she was seven years old. Yachiru may be a fukutaichou and be able to beat up full grown me, but she was still only a rather spoiled little girl.

"I got this," He told Hinamori, who obviously had never had to deal with a clingy little sister before. He turned to Yachiru and smile at her. "It's okay Yachiru. I wont be gone forever," He said patiently, mentally he was editing the script he had used on Yuzu for these occasions. "I promise I'll be done with the whole curriculum within a year."

"You promise?" Yachiru asked skeptically.

"I solemnly swear," Ichigo said. "Not only that but you can come visit me on my day off."

Yachiru considered this carefully. "Can I come visit after your classes?"

"Of course you can," Ichigo said starting to sweat. He didn't really want to set Yachiru loose on a bunch of untrained Shinigami, but really the extra training might be helpful to them.

"Oh, okay. Good. I guess I can live with that." Ichigo sagged with relief when she finally agreed. Yachiru jumped up on the roof of a neighboring building. A guard must have spotted her from within the compound as an alarm was raised. "I gotta get going before Baldy realizes that I am gone," Yachiru said ignoring the ruckus she was causing. "Bye Ichi-chan, Bye Momo-chan. Bye Ran-chan," She called out before she disappeared leaving the three stunned and standing conspicuously in the middle of the street.

"My place?" Matsumoto asked wryly. The other two nodded and all three of them vanished from sight.


	19. Chapter 19

1

Three days later came the official announcement that Ichigo was ready to join Shinou Academy, and Ichigo met with both Aizen and Hinamori for his final kidou lesson. Both of them were standing in the middle of the small courtyard where all of Ichigo's lessons took place.

Ichigo stopped at the gate unsure of entering when he realized that Aizen was busy chanting a seal. Hinamori grinned at him and waved him over. Ichigo reluctantly came up beside her.

"What is he doing?" He whispered. Whatever it was looked very complicated, and Ichigo didn't want to be caught in the middle of any kind of backlash.

Hinamori smiled sheepishly. "Well, Aizen-taichou said that I could teach you my own kidou technique today."

"The one where you use your zanpakutou?"

Hinamori nodded smiling. "But then I told him about how volatile the skill can be, and he initially didn't want anything to do with it. He said that you were disastrous enough without help." She giggled at Ichigo's incredulous look. He hadn't blown anything he hadn't meant to up in over a month. "So now he is setting up seals so that you don't 'burn down the division.' His words not mine," She said.

Ichigo snorted.

Aizen stopped his chanting and stood. He pushed his glasses up his nose from where they had slid down, and Ichigo caught a flash of annoyance as he did so. "Good you are here," He said without preamble. He gestured at the four sekkiseki stones in each corner of the courtyard. "This seal will only last about an hour before the sekkiseki stones absorb the kidou, but it should keep any damage you do confined to the courtyard." He gestured at the two sekkiseki stones off to one side. Hinamori and I will be behind that barrier over there whenever you try something. I have no wish to be blown up and neither does she. I was not going to allow this. But I find myself intrigued by the technique." He smiled brightly at Hinamori. "If you would demonstrate for us?"

Hinamori stepped forward eagerly drawing her blade and activated her shikai. Ichigo remembered the scorch marks in the dojo where he found her practicing and made a beeline for the shielded area. Aizen followed with a bemused smile on his face. At least it seemed bemused to someone who did not know his true personality. Ichigo had learned to read the minute ticks that revealed Aizen's true feelings. The minor twitch that momentarily made his smile lopsided and ill fitting for his face. The slight wrinkling of his forehead that mean he was impatient. There was also a far way look in his eyes. Aizen's attention was not on the day's lesson. Aizen folded his hands into his sleeves and gave a nod for Hinamori to start.

Hinamori took a deep breath and began to chant, "Oh Lord, mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter wings, you who bares the name of man, inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges. March on to the South!" As she was chanting Hinamori held her zanpakutou parallel to the ground across her body. The blade began to glow a dull pulsing red. "Tobiume, Shakkahou!"

As she called the name of the kidou the light around her pulsed and expanded, rushing out from Hinamori in all directions with a deafening explosion.

Ichigo stepped back as a cloud of dust and debris followed the explosion and smacked into the barrier. When the air cleared Hinamori stood in the center of the only untouched patch of ground in a giant black circle of ash. She had a huge grin on her face.

"I didn't even get singed that time," She chirped jumping up and down excitedly.

Ichigo stared amazed. All the grass was gone, vaporized, and the dirt was burnt black. Event the stone path had scorch marks. _What do you think we will be able to do with a skill like that?_

Shiro wiggled gleefully. _We could probably level the division with a byakurai. Such sweet destruction,_ He sighed blissfully. _And Hinamori looks cute when she blows things up._

_Shut it, _Ichigo told his zanpakutou silently. _You would think Renji was cute if he could do that. What about you Ossan?_

The was a brief silence and then, _I am a Quincy. Even as a part of a zanpakutou I doubt I will be able to help you cast a kidou._

_Says who? _Shiro jumped in before Ichigo could answer. _I'm a god damn hollow. If I can do it so can you._

_He's right you know. _Ichigo told the reluctant spirit.

_Harrumph__. _

It did not seem to Ichigo that Ossan was yet willing to bend his Quincy pride enough to use Shinigami skills. He left his zanpakutou to bickering with itself to observe Aizen's reaction to the nonstandard use of kidou. To his surprise the man looked contemplative.

"Excellent," Aizen said. "An interesting application of kidou."

Hinamori puffed up at his praise.

"Now let's see if you can teach it to someone else." Aizen gestured at Ichigo.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. Aizen was interested alright, but he did not want to stoop to learning a new skill from his fukutaichou. Ichigo went with Hinamori to the center of the courtyard and drew his swords.

Hinamori clutched Tibiume to her chest and started sweating. "Maybe you should start with one blade," She suggested with a nervous twitter. Sitting in on a few lessons had opened her eyes to just how destructive Ichigo really could be.

Ichigo shrugged and re-sheathed his trench knife. Shiro was as excited as Ossan was reluctant to do this, so he might as well start with the bigger blade.

Hinamori eyed the blade that was bigger than she was with trepidation. "Umm, This is a skill that is powered by the zanpakutou. It would probably be easier and safer if you used your defensive weapon," Hinamori suggested.

Ichigo shook his head in the negative. "It would just piss Zangetsu off, both of them."

Hinamori grimaced. "Just try to keep the channeling of the reiryouku to a minimum then. It does not take much for a big effect."

Ichigo smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. I promise we will be good."

_Speak for yourself, _Shiro snapped. Ichigo mentally kicked the hollow in reply.

Hinamori heaved a sigh. "Okay then." She held Tibiume in front of her. "The process is much the same for you as casting a normal kidou. The only difference is that your Zangetsu will be casting the kidou with you."

"Huh?"

"You are going to be teaching Zangestu how to do kidou," Hinamori said with a grin. "I wouldn't be able to teach you this if you didn't have such a close relationship with him."

"That's it?" Ichigo asked. It sounded easy enough to him, though teaching Shiro how to use kidou did sound pretty dangerous.

"Well no. I'm not explaining it very well. It is sort of like doing a split incantation. The effects combine exponentially."

"Doesn't sound all that hard."

Hinamori giggled. "Except for the draw back of the possibility of any kidou your zanpakutou casts affecting you." She concentrated and Tibiume started to glow a dull red. "Look closely."

Ichigo jumped slightly at the change in Hinamori's voice. It sounded much more cultured than usual, and to be honest a bit stuck up.

"Tibiume?"

Hinamori lifted her hand and waffled it in a so-so gesture. "Actually right now I am both. It is a temporary state."

"Um, is that necessary?" Ichigo still had nightmares of Shiro taking over his body.

"Only if you don't want to blow up. It keeps the kidou from affecting you." She tilted her head to the side. "I need to release the kidou. Go back to the protected area."

Ichigo nodded. The technique reminded him of Zangetsu's bankai form where both spirits became a single, powerful entity. Ichigo strode back to the safe zone thinking of the implications of the technique. Aizen raised an eyebrow questioningly at him.

"She needs to release that kidou," Ichigo said. Behind him the courtyard erupted in flames and large clumps of dirt fell against the barrier with loud cracks.

"I see," Aizen said mildly pushing up his glasses once more. "This skill seems to enhance a kidou quite a bit. I would start with a tenth of what you usually use." He glared at Ichigo. "I would like to keep the damage to a minimal. So troublesome." The last bit was muttered under his breath but, Ichigo's hearing was just sharp enough to catch it.

Hinamori bounced up to them. "Did you get it?" She asked.

"Mostly. Does it matter which kidou I use?"

"Start with something you are very familiar with. And I don't think this matters for you, but it is easier to stick with kidou that compliments your zanpakutou. Tibiume likes fire kidou but hates both water and electricity based kidou," Hinamori said fiddling with her zanpakutou.

A quick discussion with Shiro revealed that any hadou would be fine. "I think I'm good as long as something blows up."

Hinamori sweat-dropped. "So violent," She muttered to herself. "So hadous only?"

Ichigo tapped the cloth hilt of his trench knife. "Maybe for Shiro, but Ossan says he would be fine with casting bakudous."

Hinamori stared at him. She had never considered that the spirits would be so different. "Eh, binding kidous get messy with a zanpakutou, effective but very messy. It takes hours to break a bakudou cast by a zanpakutou."

"Cool," Ichigo said with a grin. Ossan couldn't argue with effectiveness. "Anyway Shiro wants to go first."

He strode confidently out into the wreckage of the training yard and held his khyber knife at the ready. He and Shiro had decided to stick with Shakkahou as they had already seen Hinamori use it twice.

_I told you that I was going to take over your body one day, _Shiro said. Ichigo could just imagine him grinning ear to ear.

_Just shut up. Do you remember the words to the kidou?_

His fingers twitched on his left hand, and Ichigo nearly jumped out of his skin. He hadn't been the one to tell his fingers to do that. _So this is what she meant by merging, _Shiro said with wonder. _It really is a lot like our bankai._

Ichigo was too busy freaking out to listen to what Shiro was saying.

_Do not worry about him taking total control Ichigo. He cannot._

_Feels weird, _Ichigo thought as his grip tightened impatiently on the hilt of his blade without any input from him.

_You gonna cast the damn kidou or what? _Shiro demanded.

Ichigo started to chant. Shiro followed suit. Once they had finished with the "boring part" as Shiro called it he channeled the kidou into the blade.

Shiro took control of the energy as if it were something he did every day. Unknown to Ichigo his eyes had lightened until they were a shining gold, and he took a far more aggressive stance than he usually would."Zangetsu, Shakkahou!" Ichigo had a split second to be thankful that his voice did not have hollow overtones before the world went white. A second later there was a loud roaring sound and dirt and debris fell heavily around him. When the dust cleared he saw Hinamori staring at him wide eyed. Even Aizen looked a bit shell shocked at the extent of the damage. There was a wide and deep circular trench surrounding him all the way to the barriers. At least the walls were still standing.

Alarmed shouts could be heard heading their way and suddenly there were two more people in the training yard. Byakuya and Renji had shown up to investigate the explosion.

_Now I know I didn't put that much power into the kidou, _Ichigo said accusingly to his zanpakutou. He watched Aizen calmly explain the situation to a frazzled Renji and a stoic Byakuya. They turned to stare at him and he waved half hardheartedly at the pair.

_Um, I may have over done it? _Shiro admitted sheepishly.


	20. Chapter 20

1

In the end it had taken Ichigo less than six months to complete the curriculum and graduate from Shinou Academy. It had been mercifully quick and, aside from a few over exuberant visits from Yachiru, painless. The best part of the whole thing was that he had now grown to the same age he had been pre-time travel. His phenomenal grades and more mature visage garnered him many offers from several of the divisions. Kenpachi had even complemented him on growing into his scowl.

Some of the offers were even for seated positions, a rare thing for graduates. Aizen, Gin and Tousen - on orders- had all offered him positions as the 11th seat, 8th seat, and 23rd seat respectively. Ichigo knew that Aizen wanted to keep him under his control and was pushing for Ichigo to accept one of their offers. But whatever plans Aizen had for him, Ichigo was not going to make it that easy on him.

Kenpachi had gone as fare as offering him his empty 4th seat provided that he defeated the 10th through the 5th seats in combat and promised to watch Yachiru. It wasn't really a bad offer, but Ichigo declined anyway on the grounds that Kenpachi would never let him rest if he ever saw him in a real fight.

Sui-Feng pushed real hard for him to join the Second Division, though she could not promise him a high ranking position right away. "I have a position in mind for you, but we only promote internally," She explained patting him on the arm. "It's just that criteria for advancement in the Second is not recognized by the Academy. You would have to complete a short, advanced training course before you would be allowed to lead any of the teams." Ichigo had declined politely while cringing inside. He could only imagine what those training courses would include, and he wanted no part of it.

If Ichigo was honest with himself the division he had chosen was for one reason and one reason only. The Thirteenth Division's Living World patrol was Karakura. In spite of Rukia's loud protests against letting her stalker into the division he eagerly accepted an unseated position. Ichigo Almost forgot himself when he finally got his first mission to the living world, the one that had originally been given to Rukia. Ichigo was finally going home.

2

The ink black sky parted and Ichigo stepped out of the Senkaimon following his hell butterfly. Reishi coalesced under his feet as he breathed deeply of the warm night air. He stepped down to street level and made his way down the familiar street toward his house. It had been impossibly easy for him to acquire Rukia's initial mission that had brought the two of them together. All Ichigo had to do was trade he a Chappy plushy for it. Rukia still distrusted his intentions, but the big plastic eyes of the plushy had eventually won out. The mission was his.

Ichigo had been surprised that it had been a simple one month patrol of Karakura, which was, in the words of the report, an area with an unusual concentration of Reishi and hollows.

Ichigo snorted once again. "Nope, nothing wrong with that. It only reads at reishi levels found in the Soul Society. Just a little bit of heaven on earth, so to speak. Nothing to worry about at all. Idiots."

The second denrishiki that he had been issued beeped in his pocket. He pulled it out and deleted the message without reading it. He knew where he was going thanks. He dropped the denrishiki back into his kosode and surveyed the deserted street. The clinic with it's attached house looked very inviting, but Ichigo had some business to take care of first. The hollow should be making it's appearance any time now.

Ichigo stood in the middle of the street with his arms crossed. This was when it had all started. He couldn't help being a little bit nostalgic. It was here that was the first time he had technically died after all. Ichigo smiled. Looking back he could admit that it was all worth it.

Ichigo sensed the hollow before he saw it. Long hours of meditation had finally paid off. A jagged rip into nothing that signified the opening of a garganta and the unmistakable reiatsu of a hollow, a really weak hollow. Ichigo eyed the lumbering shape as the hollow stopped to release a bone chilling howl into the night. It sniffed the air and turned toward him.

Ichigo was surprised at how weak the hollow felt. It barely had any reiatsu at all as far as he could tell. Yet it was the same hollow that had nearly killed his entire family that night. Ichigo shunpoed. When he appeared again the hollow was dissipating into reishi particles. It was a very anticlimactic moment. Ichigo sheathed Zangetsu and walked back up the street toward home.

He paused for a deep breath and rapped on the door. Certainly his family would be able to see him without his body.

The door opened suddenly followed by a loud yell. _That man is unbelievable, _Ichigo thought in the split second it to him to realize that his father was hurtling at him foot first. Ichigo reached up and grabbed the extended leg and turned flinging his dad out into the street. He stepped into the house and slammed the door behind him.

"What the heck was that?" Masaki demanded storming out of the dining area. She stopped when she saw Ichigo. Her eyes swept over him from head to toe and then Ichigo was having the air crushed out of his lungs. "You're finally home," She said stepping back and wiping her eyes. "And you have grown so much." She smiled at him through the tears.

Before Ichigo could pull himself together enough to answer there was a loud knock on the front door. Masaki rolled her eyes and flung open the door. "What do you think you are doing?" She demanded of her husband.

Isshin fiddled with his collar of a second. "Um, discipline?"

"I'm sorry. Your father is an idiot," Masaki said to Ichigo.

"I'm rather used to it," Ichigo replied blandly.

Good throw by the way. I see that you have kept up with your hakuda..." Isshin trailed off and looked Ichigo up and down. "You know Masaki-chan, all I saw at first was the hair, but this one seems a bit big to be ours."

"It's been four years Isshin," Masaki said. "Come on. It's dinner time. You should eat."

Ichigo grinned sheepishly. "I would love to, but I haven't been by Urahara's yet to pick up my body. I just dropped in to say hi. I will probably be spending the night over there."

Masaki frowned. "I still don't trust him."

"No one does," Ichigo said with wide eyed innocence. "But we do need him? And I kind of actually like him."

"Like him?" Isshin demanded.

"He is a... unique friend. And he has always been there when I absolutely needed him," Ichigo said defensively.

It was then that Ichigo noticed Yuzu and Karin staring at him. "Hi girls," He said with a shy wave. "Did you miss me?"

Suddenly he was attempting to keep his balance as both girls hurtled themselves at him and latched on.

"Oni-chan, you came back," Yuzu said and then burst into tears.

Ichigo held her and Karin close. "Hey, it's okay," He said sneaking a quick peek at Karin before she buried her face in his kosode. Even in this time line Kari didn't want to seem weak. Though she was wearing a skirt. That had to be mom's influence.

"Are you here to stay?" Karin asked.

"For a while. I'll be here tomorrow. I promise." Ichigo ruffled her hair.

"You aren't going to stay for dinner?" Yuzu demanded grabbing fist fulls of his kosode.

Ichigo paused considering what to say. It was obvious that both of his sisters had progressed to the point where they could not tell the difference between a spirit and a living person. That would require them to spend lots of time around someone with taichou level reiatsu. He glanced above their heads at Isshin who just shrugged. He didn't know.

"I, uh, have to go see Urahara. He kept something for me while I was away," Ichigo said lamely.

"Oh," Karin glared at him suspiciously.

"Can we see Zangetsu?" Yuzu said without missing a beat. She had always taken Ichigo at his word. If he said something it was true. She was way too trusting in Ichigo's opinion.

Ichigo stood and scratched his head sheepishly. As much as he loved his little sisters Zangetsu hated kids. "Maybe later," He said. There was always a possibility he could bribe the zanpakutou into behaving.

2

Ichigo walked up to the Urahara shoten and immediately noticed a big change. Ururu was out front sweeping the porch. She stopped to stare at him as he passed. Ichigo stopped for a brief second and then patted her on the head. "Hello Ururu."

Ururu ducked her head shyly. "Hello... who are you?"

Ichigo grimaced as he realized that he had greeted her as he had always done before, when she had known who he was. "I'm Ichigo. Urahara told me about you and Jinta," He said trying to cover his slip.

"Oh, okay," Was the only response he got. Ichigo thought she still looked suspicious of him. He hurried passed her before she questioned him or worse Jinta showed up from where ever he was hiding.

"Urahara!" He called stepping into he shop.

"Kurosaki-kun," The blond sang from the back. "You're late. I almost went to bed."

Ichigo followed the voice back int the living area. He plopped down at the table without being invited. "You an old man now? It's only eight ' clock."

"I do need my beauty sleep. It takes a lot of work to keep this young beautiful face."

"I agree," Ichigo said. "Well, I hope you got what you needed from my stay in Seireitei, because I am completely lost as to why I had to play nice with Aizen."

Urahara sipped at his tea. "One can hope correct?"

"Hope?"

Urahara sighed heavily. "For a time I had hoped that you would be able to save him. From what you have told me you have the capability to make strong bonds of friendship with your enemies. But I am afraid that Aizen has slipped too far," Urahara smiled sadly "The Hougyoku was all my fault you know."

"Your fault? I thought that Aizen had made his first."

"He did," Urahara confirmed then grinned at Ichigo. "From studying my old notes that I gave him."

Ichigo stared. "You could have created one first?"

"Yes, but I am not allowed to kill thousands of souls," Urahara waved his hand in the air dismissing Ichigo's statement.

"Aizen shouldn't be allowed to do it either..."

"You would think that wouldn't you?" Urahara tapped his fan against his lips thoughtfully. "Anyway, Aizen had no problems killing hollows and Shinigami and normal souls to make the Hougyoku. It may have been my fault. I always told him to push his limits. I didn't realize that he would do so by breaking others."

Ichigo gaped at the blond. "Aizen was your protegee?" He yelled.

Urahara put a finger to his lips signaling to keep quiet. "Yes," He admitted. "But he was only driven before the Hougyoku, and I fear that that entity itself had made him unstable." He judged Ichigo's reaction from beneath his striped hat. "I am afraid the situation that we find ourselves in now is all my fault."

Ichigo was dumbfounded. Tessai cam in and served fresh tea before he could pull himself back to reality.

"The Hougyoku is alive?"

Urahara nodded. "As alive as any created being can be."

"Then how did you create one if you can't sacrifice souls?"

"I used blanks," Urahara elaborated when Ichigo only expressed confusion. "Blanks are essentially condensed reiatsu that lost it's defining personality. They are created in the Valley of the Screams."

"What happened to the... personality?" Ichigo asked fascinated in spite of himself. It sounded as if Urahara had been conducting questionable experiments for a very long time.

"The Shinjuu is a single soul made up of many different souls, personalities you could say, these souls mesh to create a being that essentially has a very short life span. The blanks are drawn to it. The resulting explosion of the Valley of the Screams releases the original souls. It is a natural phenomenon. No one really pays it much attention," Urahara explained.

"But you used the blanks to make your Hougyoku," Ichigo pointed out. "What happens to the Valley? And the Shinjuu?"

Urahara shrugged. "The valley is probably still floating between dimensions. As for the Shinjuu, hopefully she is living a full life," He tapped his chin with the closed fan. "But my main point is that both Hougyokus are, or was alive. Mine was probably what you would consider brain dead and only functioned on a very basic level, much like the blanks themselves." Urahara gazed steadily at Ichigo. "Aizen's Hougyoku will be a fully functioning one. The is the real enemy you must watch out for. We both know you can kill Aizen at a moments notice. Your true fight will be against the Hougyoku."

Ichigo nodded. So that was it. "Aizen really isn't evil? It's all the Hougyoku?"

"No not at all." Urahara grinned when Ichigo snorted. "Aizen is as evil as he ever was in your timeline. The Hougyoku is merely making him mentally unstable. Which is good for us, because otherwise this would be very difficult."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. It wasn't difficult already?

"Aizen will most likely make his move soon. We can safely assume that he will somehow find an excuse to come collect you and my Hougyoku as he did in your own timeline," Urahara said happily.

Ichigo started with a sudden realization. "But if he decides to use the same excuse he will kill Central 46. What do we do about that?"

"Congratulate him on doing the world a favor?" Urahara said in such a way that Ichigo found it impossible to tell if he was joking or not. Urahara sipped his tea.

"Still resentful about your exile?" He asked trying to feel the situation out.

"Only a bit," Urahara growled. "But I am also right, you know. By killing the Central 46 in your timeline Aizen allowed Seireitei to move forward out of the dark ages. Away from a roomful of selfish old men who leech of of other souls in what the living would like to think of as heaven."

Ichigo didn't know how to respond. He had never really paid attention to the politics in Seireitei. His main focus had always been on someone wanting to kill him or his friends.

"Either way Aizen is adaptable. He may not even use the same plan," Urahara said to smooth over the situation. "You will be living with your family until he makes his move. Try to enjoy it."

"And if Aizen does not do what we expect him to? What then?" Ichigo asked.

I am fully prepared to take care of Aizen. You worry about the Hougyoku," Urahara said firmly. "And Ichigo, Aizen's Hougyoku will be fully aware and much harder to defeat than my own was."

"Whatever," Ichigo shrugged. "Just give me my body back, and I'll be on my way."

"Ah yes, your body," Urahara said in a far too innocent tone.

"What the hell have you done?" Ichigo yelled shooting to his feet.

"Calm down." Urahara held up his hands in surrender. "It's not really that big of a deal. Jinta-kun is on the case."

Ichigo opened his mouth to tell Urahara exactly what he thought about that. Jinta was a good kid he supposed, for a brat. But he would not trust the kid with anything that he did not want absolutely destroyed. "What happened," He growled at Urahara.

"Well," Urahara said sheepishly. The fan came out. "There seems to be a minor mix up."

"Mix up?" Ichigo echoed. He had a bad feeling that he knew where this was going.

"Well," Urahara reluctantly began. "We were using kaizou konpaku to keep your body from atrophying."

Ichigo sighed. That little green pill was so dead.

"And it seems that one of them happened to be sentient." Urahara tapped his chin with his fan thoughtfully. "I could have sworn that I had disposed of all of those." He perked up. "No matter. When Jinta-kun returns with your body I will destroy that one too."

Ichigo groaned out loud. He couldn't believe that he was going to do this a second time. "You don't have to kill it," He said very reluctantly, but instantly perked up when he remembered that his whole family was on the same page with the Shinigami thing. He could just give Kon to Yuzu as some kind of talking pet. She would love it. "My little sisters probably have some sort of stuffed animal that I can shove him into." He really did try not to smile evilly at the memory of Kon bursting into his room wearing a pink dress and crying to be saved.

Urahara peered at him over the fan curiously. It was very nerving how bright his eyes could get when he found something interesting. "Konpaku can animate stuffed animals?"

"Um, yes," Ichigo answered automatically. "Isn't that what a gigai is?" He missed the condescending look he got for that comment as he turned to go hunt down his body.

"That will not be necessary," Urahara said. "Jinta-kun had already called before you came in. He has your body and should be back momentarily. Urahara gently pushed Ichigo back down at the table.

Not ten minutes later Jinta kicked in the door. "I'm back!" He yelled to the room at large. He carelessly dragged Ichigo's body behind him by the ankle. When he saw Ichigo sitting at the table he did a double take. "What the-"

Ichigo jumped up and smacked Jinta on the back of the head. "What the hell do you think you are doing with my body? Show some respect!"

"What for you weirdo! I've had to babysit your soulless body since I came here. What kind of freak leaves behind a perfectly good living body!" Jinta yelled right back taking a swing at Ichigo.

"Yare yare, children calm down. There is no reason to fight," Urahara said. He caught Jinta's ill advised right hook in a grip strong enough to prevent the boy from moving. "The important thing is that we found Ichigo's body and got it back just in time." He grinned back at two scowling faces.

A groan from the floor prevented another explosion. Ichigo's body levered itself up off the floor. The other three watched as the konpaku shook his head to clear his vision. "Man that was a hard hit," Ichigo heard his own voice say as his body took a stumbling step forward. When the konpaku saw Ichigo his eyes widened in panic, and he turned to run.

Ichigo leaped forward and grabbed the collar of the red t-shirt his body was wearing. Power Rangers, Ichigo made a mental note to hit Urahara later, hard.

"Not so fast, Kon," He growled.

The konpaku stopped struggling. "Kon? What's that?"

"Kon is your name," Ichigo said and smacked the back of his own head in a precise and practiced manner. He caught the small round, green pill that was ejected in his right hand and let his lifeless body fall over his left shoulder.

Urahara raised an eyebrow.

"He was my room mate," Ichigo said by way of explanation though it barely scratched the surface.

"No one cares," Jinta grumbled.

Jinta-kun, Ururu-chan needs help finishing up with the chores," Urahara said peering at Jinta over his unfurled fan.

"But-"

"Go."

Ichigo didn't bother watching Jinta leave the room. It had happened often enough in his own timeline. Instead he took the opportunity to slip back into his body. It was a strange feeling to be alive again after so long. He stretched. It almost felt heavy but that could only be in his mind.

"Miss it?" Urahara asked curious.

"Not as much as I think I should," Ichigo admitted.

"Hmm... Well, you will be starting school on Monday. It should give you time to get used to it again," Urahara said.

Ichigo glanced at him. It seemed that the older man understood what he was feeling, but down that path lay insanity. He just nodded as he stared fascinated by his own hand. He clenched his fist and then released it. "Thank you for taking care of me," He told Urahara sincerely. Then he took a page from his father's book and heel kicked the blond in the face. Power Rangers for fucks sake!


	21. Chapter 21

1

The day before he had to start his classes Ichigo sat in his room at his desk drumming his fingers restlessly on his desk. He was supposed to be up here reviewing the new student material for Karakura High his parents had given him instead of downstairs playing with Kon and the rest of his family. That was the reason he had given them anyway. He was too anxious to read the material, and he doubted that it had changed much from the first time he saw that booklet. He sighed again and stared out at the blue sky outside his window. It wasn't that he was nervous about going to school. He was nervous about who he would meet there. His oldest friends, or rather the people who had been his oldest friends.

On one hand, Ichigo was ecstatic about being able to see all of them again. On the other hand, he worried about dragging them back into a world that he knew was dangerous, even deadly. Ichigo felt that he would not be able to help himself once he met them again. Even with all of his regrets over what had happened the first time he would find a way to keep them at his side.

What was really bothering him was seeing Ishida again, alive, that had his nerves humming with tension and bile rising in his throat. It had almost broke Ichigo, seeing Ishida as his enemy, impaled on Zangetsu. The reishi particles slipping through Ichigo's fingers as he tried to say that he was sorry. He had been forced to kill Ishida, all for his damn Quincy pride. Ichigo had thought that he and Ishida had become friends of a sort in spite of annoying the hell out of each other on a daily basis.

Juhabach had to have gotten a kick out of that. Ichigo clenched his fist. Light flashed in his eyes. He was going to kill that man, no matter what it took. But even with second chance to save Ishida, Ichigo was not sure he could win against Ishida's cherished Quincy heritage.

A loud knock on the bedroom door interrupted his self destructive thoughts. Ichigo's head shot up and he quickly smoothed his features into something less frightening. "Come in," He called through the door.

Isshin poked his head around the door and peered at his son. After concluding that Ichigo wasn't going to throw something at his head he stepped into the room.

"I thought you were down stairs with everyone else playing with Kon," Ichigo said fiddling with a pencil he grabbed of the desk.

Isshin smiled with his eyes shining. "Kon is still trying to explain to Yuzu that he is a boy, and it is not appropriate for boys to wear pink dresses," He answered with a fond smile. "But it is safe, right, a mod soul with it's own sentience?"

"Kon's a good guy, annoying but all around decent," Ichigo said. "And he will protect the girls. He can take care of any low level hollows that come around, and he can take my place if I ever have to go anywhere."

"I see. He does seem to be adapting nicely to the family," Isshin frowned at his son. "But you, my beautiful son, should be down stairs as well! Playing games with your sisters and having precious family moments, not sulking upstairs all alone like a lonely hermit!" Isshin yelled dramatically shoving his finger in Ichigo's face.

Ichigo growled and thought about actually biting that finger. He slapped it away instead. "Don't say such embarrassing things. My hair color will be giving me enough problems at school as it is. You are forbidden to speak to me in public or even acknowledge that you might even know me."

"But Ichigo!" Isshin wailed. "Papa is just so proud of his son," He said in a pouty baby voice.

Ichigo raised his eyebrows so hard they strained.

"But really," Isshin went on in a more serious tone. "I did not expect high school to be such a stressful experience for you. From what you have said you did very well the first time." He looked at Ichigo expectantly for an explanation. "I assume that that is why you are up here."

"It's not going back to school, idiot," Ichigo yelled. His frustration got the better of him. He briefly debated telling his dad the whole truth about what happened to Ishida but squelched the idea. "I'm nervous about seeing my old friends again is all," He admitted instead.

His dad nodded sagely. "It must be hard knowing so much about people, being so close to people, who don't even know that you exist."

Ichigo stiffened. He had not thought of it that way. He had always assumed that his friends would accept him and eventually come to trust him as they had before. "When we became friends before it was was fighting hollows together, fighting Aizen, saving Rukia... We broke into Seireitei together."

Isshin's eyebrows bounced up at that last bit of information. Breaking into the seat of power in the Soul Society was no easy task. "How did you manage that?"

"Kukaku's giant cannon and a whole lot of reiatsu," Ichigo shrugged it off.

"Mmm, She always was very proud of that thing,"Isshin said fondly. "Do you believe that your friends will fight at your side again?"

"I don't know?" Ichigo said scratching his neck uncomfortably. "I'm not even sure at this point that I should include them."

Isshin looked for a moment like he was going to say something ridiculous and sappy, then his face took on a rare serious expression. "It will be different this time as you will be making that choice for them, whether they want to fight with you or not." He sighed loudly. "But true love will conquer all!" Isshin said throwing his arms wide.

"I'm going to go for a walk," Ichigo said abruptly. "As stupid as his father sounded, his words had given Ichigo something to think about. "I need to clear my head."

Isshin nodded silently and watched as his son jumped out the bedroom window into the yard below. He scratched his chin thoughtfully before joining the rest of his family down stairs. Growing up was hard, and Ichigo did not choose an easy path for himself.

2

Ichigo shoved his hands further down into his pockets. It wasn't a particularly cold day, but it made him feel better to skulk around and look sullen. He studiously avoided going to Urahara's, especially after he realized that he had chosen a path that would take him strait to the shop. That was becoming a bad habit. He continued on for a while until he got to the outskirts of the warehouse district where he knew the Visoreds to be. He was sure that the group could sense him easily. Either they would confront him or go to Urahara for information. He purposely brought his hollow reiatsu to the fore and let it mingle with his Shinigami reiatsu. That should get their attention. He was not ready to confront the lot of them right now but giving them a fair warning that he was in the neighborhood was just the polite thing to do.

After he left the warehouse district Ichigo was busy paying more attention to the slight pulse in his reiatsu field that meat meant one of the Visoreds had decided to follow him than he was to his surroundings. This caused him to run strait into someone. He stepped back and mumbled an apology. He started to walk away with barely a glance at the other person when a hand shot out and grabbed his upper arm in a tight grip. Ichigo had to consciously stop himself from throwing the man into the brick wall across the street. It was only a human after all.

"Hey! What do you think you are doing you little punk?"

Ichigo looked up and glared at a delinquent that was not much older than he was. He was a standard delinquent: tight jeans, t-shirt with rolled up sleeves, stupid hair died red -crap. Ichigo really did not need this right now. The idiot had made him loose the reiatsu signature.

"How dare you bump into me? And you don't look the least bit sorry. Does he boys? The big boy trying to act like he's so hardcore with that hair," The young man said with a sneer.

Ichigo glanced over his shoulder to see other delinquents move up behind him blocking any escape from that route. They laughed at their leader's "joke." They were well trained in sucking up. He pinched his nose to stop a sudden headache. "I bumped into you; I admit that. I said I was sorry, which is common courtesy. Now we can both move on to more productive things," Ichigo said as if speaking to a small child.

The bully's face went from lightly flushed and superior to a brilliant red during Ichigo's little speech. "I'm gonna beat the crap outta you, you little shit!"

Ichigo snorted. "You look like the type that likes to beat up weaker opponents because it makes you look stronger than you are." He cracked his knuckles. "If you had any sense you would realize that I am not a weak opponent."

The group surrounded him on all sides now. They obviously weren't into playing fair. Not that this mattered much to Ichigo. The only problem he had was hitting one of them too hard and accidentally killing him. Ichigo considered whether he could get away with using just one shunpo in his physical body without doing much damage. Human body's just weren't made to take the stress. Ichigo did not want to beat up a normal teenager no matter how annoying he was. The phrase overkill came to mind. It just seemed so wrong after battling self proclaimed gods.

Ichigo was about to make good his escape and leave the group of delinquents wondering what the hell had happened when he saw it. Dangling around the lead delinquent's neck was a familiar Mexican coin on a metal chain. You just didn't see that all that often in Japan, and Ichigo had only ever seen one. It was Chad's memento from his grandfather.

That day in Junior High when Ichigo and Chad had met Ichigo had retrieved that coin from a group of delinquents that Chad himself would not fight, thus securing the gentle giant's friendship and loyalty. Except this time Ichigo had not been there to stand up for his friend. Chad himself would not have prevented the theft, would not have fought back for it because he considered it wrong to use his strength for his own gain. Ichigo frozen envisioning a badly beaten Chad mourning the loss of his grandfather's memento and the world went white.

He felt his fist connect with flesh several times. At one point he was sure one of the delinquents had gotten him in a momentary chock hold and then was gone. Ichigo remembered throwing that one into a second that was just pulling himself off the ground where Ichigo had knocked him down seconds before. It took the group a few tries, but eventually they learned that it was better to stay down than to get back up again.

The next thing Ichigo was fully aware of was the smack of a chain on the back of his hand. He looked down at the coin resting in the palm of his hand and wondered exactly how it had gotten there. The next thing that caught his eye was his red knuckles and a dull throb on the left side of his face where one of the delinquents had got in a lucky hit.

He looked down at the five thankfully groaning bodies. Ichigo had not taken it too far. It would have been a tragedy if he had to be arrested on his first mission in the living world for killing one of the idiots.

"You shouldn't take things that are not yours," Ichigo said nudging the leader with the toe of his sneaker. "It does not always end well."

"It's mine you dumbass," the leader had the gall to say.

Ichigo stepped on his hand. "I happen to know who you took this from," He said in a low dangerous voice. "And I know that he will be relieved to get it back." He rubbed the coin as he walked away. He needed to get this back to Chad without arousing suspicion. His run in with Rukia drove home the fact that not everyone would take him knowing so much about them well. It would probably be best if Chad never saw him with it. Even better if Ichigo could drop it into Chad's mailbox with none the wiser.

Decision made Ichigo turned down the street that would eventually lead him to Chad's apartment.

It was nearing dinner time when Ichigo finally made himself walk up to Chad's apartment. He had checked very carefully to make sure that Chad was not home to witness him dropping the coin off. He did not know how he would explain himself if he ran into his old friend. It was only the fact that his family would be worrying about him soon that he walked up to the mail box and dropped the coin inside. He sighed in relief and was turning to leave when he ran smack into a wall that had not been there before. Ichigo looked up into Chad's almost emotionless face and started swearing mentally.

The other boy hadn't changed. He still wore loud Hawaiian shirts and jeans when he wasn't in school. This shirt was blue with a yellow flower print.

Chad was curious about him; Ichigo could tell, even if most people just saw a dead stare. He caught the brief twitch of an eyebrow and the slight widening of the eyes that usually meant Chad was surprised.

Ichigo stepped back and slapped a big smile on his face. It was painful -physically- smiling just wasn't something he did. It felt very fake, though he was very glad to see his friend again.

"Hi," Ichigo said thinking fast for a reason why he would be standing outside Chad's apartment.

Chad grunted in response and nodded his head.

_Oh good, a friendly greeting, _Ichigo thought. "Umm, I was looking for room 207..." He trailed off looking at Chad expectantly. Ichigo knew full well that 207 was on the other side of the building because of a quirk that the building architect had with putting apartments on the north sides of buildings. It was supposed to be bad luck or something. But Ichigo himself used to give directions to people looking for Tanaka-san's apartment.

Chad crossed his arms clearly not believing him for some reason.

"Eh, Tanaka-san is a patient of my dad's. He wanted me to check up on her since she is an old lady living alone," Ichigo said hurriedly. "I'm Kurosaki Ichigo by the way," He said bowing slightly.

Chad studied him for a moment then nodded solemnly. "It is on the other side of the stairs," there was a long pause. "This building is odd."

"Oh okay," Ichigo said trying to look innocent. He already knew this of course. "Thank you," Ichigo chirped to keep up his act and turned to leave before he did something stupid, like hug the other boy. He shoved his hands into his pockets and headed toward the stairs that were thankfully around the corner from Chad's apartment. Ichigo intended to start running once he was out of sight.

Ichigo could feel eyes on him as he walked down the hall. As he turned the corner he glanced back at Chad to see the other boy still watching him with a broken chain clenched in his fist.

Ichigo rounded the corner and broke into a run. As good as it was to see his friend again, he could not have that conversation right now. He couldn't handle it if he were rejected by Chad as well as Rukia.


	22. Chapter 22

1

Monday morning rolled around, and Ichigo was waiting outside the principal's office for his homeroom teacher to come out and show him to his class room. He dug his toe into the white tile floor bored out of his mind. He should probably be anxious than he was considering he almost threw up last night at the thought of re-meeting all of his human friends at the same time, but now that the day had come an eerie calm had descended on him. Ichigo felt like he did just before a battle where he kicked ass. The thought made him smile, he was really good under pressure.

He glanced at the door impatiently for Ochi-sensei to appear. This was taking far longer than he had thought it would. What did Ochi-sensei and the principal have to discuss? As far as Ichigo knew about the process after a quick welcome to the school speech the principal handed the new student off to the homeroom teacher. Then the new student was paraded in front of his judgmental peers and tried to cram his life story and a nonthreatening nature into thirty seconds or less.

Ichigo tapped his fingers impatiently on the edge of the uncomfortable wooden bench he was sitting on. He had forgotten just how uncomfortable school furniture was. He was not looking forward to sitting at a desk for hours at a time again.

Finally the door to the principal's office opened and his old homeroom teacher stepped out. Ichigo smiled genuinely when he stood to greet her. She had been one of the few people who had originally looked passed his hair and saw more than a future street thug.

"Kurosaki-kun?" Ochi-sensei asked a touch hesitant.

The smile froze on Ichigo's face. His teacher had never been this nervous around him before. What did the principal say?

"Yes," He acknowledged with a polite bow. "I am Kurosaki Ichigo. It is nice to meet you."

Ochi-sensei's surprise at his politeness hurt more than he he would have expected. Ichigo reminded himself that this was her first time meeting him The principal must have told her about his record of fighting in elementary school and the story Urahara and his parents had concocted of him being sent to a correctional Junior High for young delinquents.

Ichigo had been instantly insulted by the idea and had argued for hours that he had never in his life done anything to warrant being sent to a 'delinquent school'. But in the end he did have to admit that it was a tailor made excuses for his absence over the last four years, and that Urahara was way too good at forging legal documents.

"It is nice to meet you too, Kurosaki-kun. My name is Ochi-sensei, and I will be your homeroom teacher." Ochi-sensei replied after a beat. "If you will follow me, I'll show you to the class room."

Ichigo nodded, picked up his brief case, and waited for Ochi-sensei to take the lead toward the classroom."

Along the way she kept glancing at him from out of the corner of her eye. The hair aside the boy didn't look anything out of the ordinary. In fact he looked way to clean cut to have the record the principal had told her about. He hair was even the proper length for a young boy and his uniform was clean and pressed with the shirt tucked in and there were no visible tattoos anywhere. At first glance she would have assumed that he was about as dangerous as Ishida-san.

Ochi-sensei kept this firmly in mind and decided to wait to draw any conclusions about her new student. Though she did start thinking of a polite way to tell him that perhaps he should dye his hair back to it's original black. Maybe a subtle hint to his mother would help. She had seemed like a sweet and understanding woman. Nodding her head in affirmation Ochi-sensei opened her classroom door and gestured for Ichigo to follow her inside.

As Ochi-sensei introduced him to the class Ichigo felt Ishida's reiatsu skyrocket. Ichigo tried his best to keep his face passive as he gave his little introductory speech to the class. He couldn't even really remember what he had said later besides something about Shakespeare and sports. But he could have said that he played Shakespeare and read sports for all he knew.

Ichigo's own reiatsu wanted to respond wanted to respond to Ishida's challenge, and the whole room briefly took on a faint blue light to the eyes of the spiritually aware. Ichigo winced and tamped down on his reiatsu, hard. Not that it worked all that well. The glow vanished and sweat beaded his brow. The effort was almost worth the dumbfounded look on Ishida's face. Ichigo tried hard not to smirk. Yachiru had told him once that his smirk reminded her of Ikkaku taunting his opponents. Ishida boy studied him critically all through class after that. Ichigo could feel his eyes on him long after he had taken his seat.

He sat and actually paid more attention to the teacher than anything else. It was way too tempting to play games with his knowledge of his friends. Ichigo was far too tempted to bring forward his Quincy tinged reiatsu just to confuse Ishida, for one. It kind of made him giddy. Did Urahara feel like this all the time with his superior knowledge of... damn near everything? It was a sobering thought and an uncomfortable look into the crackpot's mind. He was also pleasantly surprised that he remembered most of the material that they were covering. Even the dusty cobwebs that had grown over his knowledge of algebra were easily cleared away.

The best part of the day was that it was quiet. No hollows interrupted class causing him to take a forty minute bathroom break. No pink haired monster dragged him off to Kami knew where so the could make up a new blood sport to terrorize the Soul Society with - The brand new Eleventh Division Soccer Brawl Tournament had become nearly as popular as its more benign counterpart in the living world in just under fifteen minutes. They were already taking bets on next year's winning team.

Ichigo made it all the way to lunch without any incidents. When the lunch bell rang a conditioned response had him grabbing his lunch bag and striding up to the roof. It wasn't until his old friends were ringed around him uncertainly holding their own lunches and staring at him that he realized his mistake. He had been hoping to reintroduce himself to his friends one by one, slowly. That plan was now a wash.

Ichigo swallowed the food in his mouth. "Hello," He said. "Beautiful day we are having, huh?"

Tatsuki took a deep breath and stepped forward pointing her finger directly at Ichigo's nose. "You mister have some explaining to do."

Everyone else looked surprised and confused by Tatsuki's treatment of the new student. Keigo actually ducked behind Mizuiro. Ichigo wondered just what rumors were circulating about him.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo said deciding to tackle the problem head on. Tatsuki was the only one who knew Ichigo from their karate classes together as a kid. The others were a clean slate and far less confrontational as a whole.

"You disappear of the face of the earth after graduation, and you stopped coming to the dojo. I thought you loved karate. Did you chicken out a quit? Did your parents tell you that you couldn't practice anymore because of what happened to those junior high kids?" Tatsuki asked excitedly.

"You know Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked. "You didn't say that he was your friend, Tatsuki-chan. Because of what everyone was saying I expected someone all 'grrr,'" She made what she probably thought was a scary face. Ichigo saw Mizuiro cover his mouth with his hand from off to the side. "But really he's just all frowny, and a bit said. But very polite." She held up her hands defensively. But then Tatsuki-chan wen tall 'grr' and my heart went doki doki doki..."

Ichigo blinked as Orihime went on explaining the last six minutes from a very unique perspective. He had forgotten that she had been a bit of an air head before her capture by Aizen.

"Orihime, calm down," Tatsuki said. She looked down at Ichigo. "Well? What happened?"

Ichigo shrugged like it was no big deal. "My dad's meddling friend had me sent off to a school that would help me channel my aggression into something useful and teach me some discipline."

"So you had to quit karate. It doesn't explain how you went from crybaby to ass kicker in under a week," Tatsuki grumbled. The answer was very unsatisfying.

"Not really. I still learned how to fight. It was just a much more structured curriculum, which I will admit I sorely needed," Ichigo said examining everyone's reactions to his words. They seemed to take his explanation at face value. "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

"Eh... sorry," Tatsuki said finding her manners. "This is my best friend, Orihime," She said gesturing.

Orihime waved at him with a big smile. "Hi!"

Ichigo waved back. "Yo."

Tatsuki pointed at the others in turn. "This is Chizuru, and Mizuiro. The one crouching behind Mizuiro is Keigo."

Chizuru bowed.

"Hello, nice to meet you," Mizuiro said also bowing.

Keigo squeaked when he was introduced.

"What's wrong with him?" Ichigo asked as if he didn't know. Keigo had been scared of him the first time they had met as well. Though no matter how much abuse he threw at the over enthusiastic boy, he never showed fear of Ichigo after that first day.

"Well... things have been said. Let's just say that." Tatsuki said uncomfortably.

"Like the fact that I am a delinquent who beats people up for no reason?" Ichigo interjected smoothly.

All five of the others had the decency to look sheepish.

"Yeah, I honestly thought that you would be bigger and scarier, like that foreign kid... name's Chad, I think." Keigo said.

Ichigo frowned. He had been wondering why the others hadn't been including Chad in anything all day. It seem without Ichigo to play the go between the others never got to know the gentle giant.

"He isn't so bad," Ichigo said defensively. "I talked to him briefly over the weekend. Nice guy."

"Really?" Keigo asked surprised.

"Yeah."

"So everything is just rumors? You didn't beat up those junior high students while you were in elementary school?" Chizuru asked timidly.

Ichigo shook his head. "That I did," He stated flatly. The other's gaped at him. "They got what they deserved for picking on elementary kids. If it hadn't been me someone would have gotten hurt."

"Those junior high students were pretty hurt," Mizuiro muttered. Ichigo shrugged at him conceding the point.

"I suppose," Chizuru said flushing and stepping behind Orihime. He hands automatically wandered up to Orihime's chest where they were slapped down by Tatsuki.

"You guys can join me for lunch," Ichigo said uneasily gesturing at the ground around him. He was used to his friends congregating around him whether he wanted them there or not.

"Sure, thanks," Keigo said plopping down, reassured that Ichigo was not going to pummel him into the concrete by whatever sixth sense got him out of being bullied by the other students. The others joined him in a loose circle.

"We usually eat lunch here everyday if you want to join us," Tatsuki said.

Ichigo nodded. "Sounds good."

Tatsuki nodded and concentrated on her lunch.

Ichigo covertly watched his friends talk about things he half remembered as he took a long draw on his juice box. He had missed his friends while in Seireitei. He hid a laugh as Chizuru made another grab for Orihime and Tatsuki threw her over her shoulder with a growl.

"Ah! Tatsuki, you shouldn't be so rough!" Orihime cried.

"You shouldn't let others take advantage of you like that. What am I teaching you for?" Tatsuki demanded.

_At least some things never change_, Ichigo thought.

2

Ichigo spent the rest of the day wondering when Chad was going to confront him about his grandfather's coin. He caught Chad watching him more than once out of the corner of his eye with a thoughtful look on his face. But the big guy never came near him. It was Ishida who finally stopped Ichigo at the end of the day.

Ichigo waved off an invite to Keigo's house to play video games by using his sisters as an excuse. While he would like to spend as much time with his friends as he could Keigo was tiring at the best of times. Ichigo really needed a buffer between himself and the overly emotional boy and everyone else was busy. As he turned off at the cross walk and headed alone toward the clinic Ishida stepped out of the shadow of the buildings. Ichigo stood and waited. He knew that Ishida had been following him. He had actually gotten pretty good at sensing other people's reiatsu when he concentrated. He had been keeping tabs on Ishida all day since the other boy had pretty much come unhinged that morning.

"Didn't expect me to figure it out Shinigami?" Ishida asked pushing up his glasses so that the glare from the sun obscured his eyes. "Really you should have guessed I would figure it out; you are terrible at hiding your reiatsu signature."

Ichigo face palmed. Had it really been so bad between them the first time around? they were cousins for crying out loud; distant cousins, thank kami, but still cousins.

"I wasn't hiding," Ichigo huffed.

"I don't know what you are doing here, Shinigami, but you are defiantly not needed," Ishida went on coldly.

"I'm just doing my job, patrolling Karakura for hollows," Ichigo said blandly trying to maneuver around the other boy so that he could continue on home.

Ishida stepped in front of him cutting off his exit. Ichigo sighed in exasperation.

"Do you think that I am and idiot?" Ishida snapped.

Ichigo stopped the automatic 'yes' that sprang to his lips. This Ishida had no history with him. The terse reply would be considered down right hostile by the boy. "It's the truth," Ichigo said with a bad feeling that he knew where this was going.

Ishida snorted. "They don't send Shinigami with your level of reiatsu out on patrol," Ishida spat. "The only reason I can think of to send someone of your level here is to hunt down Quincys."

"I'm here to kill hollows," Ichigo said levelly. "Even though I have a high reiatsu level I have just graduated from the academy. I'm just here for the experience."

Ishida laughed. "That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Your reiatsu will end up drawing more hollows than usual. I know that Shinigami are of inferior intelligence, but even they only send captains to the living world on their council's orders, and usually for nefarious deeds." Ishida's eyes narrowed. "Even then they use power limiters. Why aren't you using one?"

"I am wearing a power limiter," Ichigo said uneasily. He, in fact had two, There had been a heated debate over sending him to the living world at all because of his reiatsu levels. "And I am not here to hunt you down or any other Quincy," he added even though he knew that Ishida would not believe him.

"Lies," Ishida spat making the motion to draw his bow. Reishi began to gather.

Ichigo sighed. He reached out with his own reiatsu and drained the reishi. "That pride of yours is going to get you killed one day," He said sadly.

The grief in Ichigo's tone made Ishida unsure. It was not the reaction he had been expecting when he drew his bow. Not only that the _Shinigami_ had countered with an _Quincy_ ability. That should not even be possible.

"Is that a threat?" Ishida demanded trying to cover for his shock. He clenched his shaking hands. This was a Shinigami not a Quincy. He was never wrong when discerning reiatsu.

"No," Ichigo answered. He sounded so desolate that Ishida was for the first time in a long time frozen by indecision. He could not kill this Shinigami, literally, at his current level his arrows would most likely just bounce off. Ishida would have sworn that the red head was not wearing a limiter, if he really was... And he was not completely certain that he should kill the Shinigami. No Shinigami had ever exhibited Quincy abilities. Ishida had read through his grandfather's lore on Quincys religiously. Shinigami and Quincy's just didn't work the same way.

"I'm not going to fight you," Ichigo said interrupting Ishida's swirling thoughts. "Never again, not if I can help it."

There was such conviction in Ichigo's voice that Ishida backed up a step. Ichigo moved around and walked passed him. "I don't want to be your enemy," Ichigo said as he passed. He kept walking without looking back. If he did the conversation would degenerate into a shouting match or a full blown fight, or worse he would start crying. He left Ishida staring behind him.

3

Ichigo was sitting at his desk actually doing his homework for once. He had always managed to stay pretty close behind Ishida and Orihime in grades no matter how turbulent things got with his Substitute Shinigami duties, and with proper motivation -getting one up on Ishida- he was all for putting his best efforts into his school work. He sat back from his homework as a dose of reality hit him over the head. For Ishida this was not a "friendly" rivalry where they pushed each other passed their limits while annoying each other for fun. There was a one hundred percent chance that Ishida would see it as a mortal insult. Maybe Ichigo should change tactics.

Ichigo hit himself on the head. He was beginning to think like Urahara manipulating other peoples emotions. He needed to spend less time at the shop.

"You are doing weird things again," A voice said from under his bed.

Ichigo jumped. "What the hell are you doing under there?"

Kon, the stuffed lion, crawled out from under the bed and crawled up the blankets until he could sit on the edge. "I'm hiding from your sister. She still has problems grasping the concept that I am a boy."

"I thought she had moved on from stuffing you in dresses to making you little suits," Ichigo said twirling his pencil between his fingers.

"Lavender suits," Kon emphasized. "I can't be a cool lady's man wearing lavender suits and lacy shirts, _lacy shirts."_

Ichigo's lip twitched slightly, but he held on to his facade. "You're a stuffed animal," He said deadpan.

Ichigo didn't really know why he had offered to let Kon stay with him again. It had been annoying enough the first time, but the little monster did have a more active roll in the family since everyone knew who he was. It kept him out of Ichigo's hair, mostly. Karin and Yuzu were happy with him anyway, that was all that mattered.

"Only on the outside," Kon said petulantly. "You know, it was so much easier for me when you weren't here; just me and your body, good times."

Ichigo's eye twitched. "Great now I feel dirty."

"You know what I meant!" Kon yelled defensively jumping up and pointing at Ichigo accusingly. He sighed and sat down. "I couldn't hang out in Karakura, of course. You know go to school and all that stuff, but I did go to Tokyo a few times, ran away to Osaka for a summer. It was fun."

Ichigo was surprised. He knew that Urahara had been using Kon to keep his muscles from atrophying or down right decaying. It was a possibility. Ichigo could understand why Kon had run when he came back.

"Oh, did you have fun?" Ichigo asked awkwardly.

"Yeah, you really should go... but inform me first if you do. There are a couple of places that you are banned from," Kon said twiddling his paws.

"What!" Ichigo leaped.

He ended up missing, and his desk chair banged against the wall. Ichigo was in the process of chasing Kon around his room intent on pulling the little green pill out of the stuffed animal and drowning it in a glass of water when his mother opened the door to investigate what all the noise was about.

"What is going on up here?" Masaki asked walking into the room. She stopped at the sight of Ichigo half under his bed and cursing a blue streak. He quickly scrambled out from under his bed painfully scraping his shoulder blade on the metal frame. Ichigo sat on his bed holding his shoulder and hissing in pain.

Kon sensing safety shot out from under the bed and clamped his little stuffed arms around Masaki's ankle.

Masaki quickly bent down and picked him up. She was well aware of the little perv's penchant for looking up her skirt. It was all she could do to keep her son and husband from noticing and committing murder. If that meant kicking the little gerbil minded konpaku under the stove every fifteen minutes then so be it.

"Umm... well..." Ichigo trailed off not knowing how to make 'I was going to kill a stuffed animal' sound any better than it did.

"Ichigo's trying to kill me!" Kon screamed and burst into tears.

Masaki cocked an eyebrow at her son. Preventing him from murdering the konpaku was going to be more difficult than she had thought if her son's face was anything to go by. Obviously the two of them just didn't get along.

"Calm down. I'm sure that whatever happened it isn't as bad as you think it is," She tried to reason.

Ichigo jabbed his finger at Kon. "That got me banned from places I haven't even gone yet. Who knows what unspeakable things he has done in my body."

Masaki swallowed a giggle. This was her son. The parenting books had never even dreamed of adding a chapter for allowing your son to let an artificially soul inhabit his body. "You want to put that into some context for me?" She asked impishly.

Ichigo blushed bright red when he realized what he had said. "I ... um..." He glared at the floor willing the blush to go away. Somehow this was easier with his dad. Isshin just brushed aside the weird as if it were an everyday thing, which for him it probably was. His mother was far more grounded, more human come to think of it. "He is ruining my reputation," He finally grumbled crossing his arms defensively.

"As what? Mr. Grump-Face" Kon said sticking out his tongue. He crawled back under the safety of the bed hoping to be forgotten.

Now Masaki did giggle. She agreed with the lion. Ichigo was far too serious for a young man. Ichigo you may be twenty-four in that head of yours, but no one else is familiar with any sort of reputation you may have once had." She sat down on the bed next to Ichigo. What you should really be striving for is a good first impression."

Ichigo grunted. He had been thinking about that before Kon had interrupted him. His mother was right of course, no one else had the same memories he had. He really could start all over with Ishida and perhaps have a more... companionable relationship instead of a competitive one. "I know. I was thinking that maybe I shouldn't use my knowledge from before to get Ishida all riled up by surpassing him in class."

Masaki reached out and grasped his shoulders. Her eyes glowed. "Ichigo, I know how important it is for you to reconnect with your friends. Ishida is your cousin, did you know that?"

Ichigo nodded.

"We can invite him and Ryuuken over for dinner if you want, but as far as your grades go..." Her eyes flashed. "Take him down."

Ichigo blinked at his mother a few times. Had she always been this competitive?

"Okay?" Ichigo said. He scratched his head uneasily.

"That's mama's little boy," Masaki squealed giving her son a bear hug.

Ichigo smiled and hugged her back. He still missed this.


	23. Chapter 23

1

Ichigo soon fell into his old pattern of going to school during the day and patrolling for hollows at night. He was happier now that he had reunited with his friends and having his mother around made things even better. He had even caught himself smiling a few times or out right grinning whenever he managed to beat Ishida on a quiz. The Quincy was not impressed.

Chad still hung back away from the group as a whole. He easily picked up on the others unease at having him looming over them, literally, though Ichigo always made a point of inviting him to join them during breaks. Chad would sit quietly and study Ichigo intently whenever he got the chance, but he still had not said anything about their first meeting. It was unnerving for Ichigo. He always expected Chad to start asking questions before remembering that this was Chad, he would watch and wait before coming to a conclusion and then finally voicing any questions that he had.

On the other hand, Chad still had his back in the occasional fight. The silent signals Ichigo kept getting from his friend confused him. It was as if Chad wanted to be friends, but he seemed unsure of their relationship. Ichigo tried his best to convince his old friend through body language that he really did want Chad around. For the moment it seemed to be working.

Ichigo sighed and shook his head to clear it. He still had a job to do aside from patching back together his personal life. He was on patrol tonight. He leaped over buildings in a random order, basically making a game of it as it was a quiet night for hollow activity.

_Only land on buildings with roof access now. _Shiro said in the back of his mind. The hollow was intent on making it as hard as possible to find a "safe" place to land. In other words Shiro was bored.

Ichigo scowled. That rule would put his shunpo steps at their limit in most places. Karakura just didn't have roof access buildings the way larger cities did. Not that it wasn't a good idea. Ichigo was getting bored of routine patrol too. He pinpointed another roof top with a door about two blocks away and shunpoed in that direction.

It was becoming a pain trying to find a way to tax his limits in Karakura. All of the hollows were pathetically easy to defeat. It had been much harder the first time around when he had to fight tooth and nail to improve. Now the hollows didn't even sense him coming before they were dissolving into glittering reishi. And of course most horrific of all, Shiro was bored. Ossan had all but disappeared from his inner world with the rampaging hollow knocking down buildings every where. He had told Ichigo that he would still be here if he really needed him, but not to call for him outside of a life or death situation.

Having a bored hollow in your head also made you do stupid things, like attempt Yoruichi's version of hop scotch, which he was doing now, or goading Urahara into sparing matches.

Ichigo dived off the edge of a three story building to land precariously on a thin tree branch. He had graduated to the 'only land on things thinner than the width of a hand' stage of the game. He was so bored that he actually missed having Yachiru around to 'liven' things up. At least a constant heart attack was stimulating. He sighed and once again considered the merits of goading Urahara into another fight. It was a blast, but his dad had not thought highly of the activity when he got the bill for the reconstruction of the underground training area... and the floor that had caved in... and the roof.

_Honestly, I think charging us for the roof is a bit much considering he was the one that threw us through it, _Shiro griped.

Ichigo laughed out loud at the memory. In retrospect it was a lot less terrifying. The sound in the quiet night startled him. He quickly straitened his face into an emotionless mask and superstitiously glanced around to see if anyone had heard.

_You are changing, _Ossan said trying to ease Ichigo's unease. _It is not a bad change._

"Well it's freaking me out," Ichigo said out loud. "I just... Is this what it would have been like if mom and survived the first time?"

Silence answered him.

Ichigo shook his head and leaped again. Masaki was probably at home right now fixing him a late night after hollow hunt snack like she had been doing since he came back. He would eat, and then they would talk. Ichigo was slowly telling her everything, from his days at school to what had happened after she had died. The changes he had made in the time line were starting to change him. It made him uneasy, as if he were loosing something he hadn't even known he had.

Ichigo's head snapped up mid shunpo. He tumbled down off a house into the quiet street soundlessly landing on his feet. Still crouched he cocked his head to the side listening as he drew Shiro from his back. The white cloth wrapped around the blade slipped free and fluttered in an invisible wind.

Ichigo had felt the presence of a hollow ripple through the edges of his reiatsu. It was circling him cautiously in the direction of Orihime's apartment as if it were trying to avoid him.

This one would be another easy kill. Ichigo blurred and stopped three blocks over. A quick slash and a back step to avoid a scaled tail lashing out in retaliation. The skin crawling howl of a dying hollow cut in half as the hollow dissolved into motes of reishi. "No... Orihime... must..." The hollows dying words before it's mask disintegrated froze Ichigo in his tracks. The warm night air turned to ice in his lungs. He remembered this hollow now, why that scaled tail and hollow mask had seemed familiar. It was the snake creature that had once been Orihime's older brother.

That night so long ago where he had fought to save Orihime's and Tatsuki's lives had been the night that Orihime had developed her powers. Having her soul pulled from her body had been the catalyst for everything that had happened to her after. Now she would never develop he powers.

Even Shiro Zangetsu seemed to wilt at the thought. The cloth shifted listlessly at Ichigo's feet.

"I never realized that purifying hollows could be such a traumatic experience," A familiar voice drawled out of the darkness of a nearby alley.

Ichigo blinked a couple of times but otherwise failed to react.

Shinji frowned at the lack of response. He had thought he had hidden his reiatsu completely. He stepped forward so that he could be better seen in the street lamp. "Oi!"

Ichigo turned to face him. He had known that a Visored had been watching him. He fully expected them to after his first brief visit to their side of town. There were also Urahara's subtle hints that slowly transitioned into blatant statements of training his hollow powers as Ichigo ignored him. What Ichigo had not expected was for one of them to confront him directly. He had been sure that he would have to convince Urahara to speak to them on his behalf when they were ready to make their move against Aizen.

"I couldn't sense you," Ichigo said to the baffled look on Shinji's face.

"Then how did you know I was there?" Shinji asked suspiciously.

Ichigo sheathed Zangestu. He smiled faintly; it still felt unnatural to him.

Shinji was as weird looking as ever. At least this time he wasn't trying to pull off a high school uniform. That had been creepy to say the least.

"Experience," Ichigo said.

Shinji frowned. He leaned back against the building behind him. He was still confident that he could take the kid in a fight, but something bothered him about the rieatsu he was sensing from Ichigo. His eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I sense it," He said looking Ichigo up and down. "Urahara did say that you were one of us. Ya sure you got that thing under control? It feels a lil' wild." The implication being that Ichigo was on the verge of spiraling out of control and devouring his entire family.

"I am in control," Ichigo said carefully not moving. The Visoreds were so suspicious and with good reason, but was annoying to have to gain their trust again. Ichigo stared Shinji down for a few minutes for good measure. It was always worth having more friends than enemies, as he had learned.

"Ya sure you don't need help? You can call your mask and everything?" Shinji pushed. If the kid was going to get mad and loose control it would better be done earlier than later.

_Old Piano Teeth is pissin' me off again, _Shiro growled.

Ichigo mentally hit Shiro on the head instead of answering. He formed the hollow mask in his hand to answer Shinji's question. To his surprise the mask was very heavy and had horns.

"Surprised?" Shinji demanded jumping on Ichigo's slight twitch.

"I have not actually seen this form of my mask. The only time I have ever called it, I was wearing it." He ran his fingers over the mask. "I should have expected it at this point, especially after that battle" He said.

"Eh? It means something?"

"This is a Vasto Lorde mask," Ichigo said absently.

Shinji tensed and gripped the hilt of his zanpakutou. That put this unknown boy on a level far above himself and the others. "Well, I went to see Urahara about you after you waltzed through Hachi's kidou. He told me that you were powerful," He said trying to brush off his nervousness. "He also said that you wanted to meet with the Visored. I thought that it was to help you control that." He gestured at the mask.

Ichigo let the mask dissipate. He really didn't need the physical mask anymore. His hollow powers were a part of him now as much as his Quincy powers were. He met Shinji's gaze and tried to look as nonthreatening as possible. From the expression on Shinji's face he failed. Ichigo decided to be as strait forward as possible. It was his strong point after all.

"I need your help to stop Aizen," He said.

Shinji snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. He was clearly unimpressed. "You expect me to believe that someone clearly as powerful as you are is going to show up out of nowhere and offer to help us defeat the man who turned us into pariahs and tried to have us killed?" Shinji snorted in derision. "Besides, judging from that mask it looks like you could stomp all over him."

Ichigo reigned in the urge to hit Shinji over the head. "Sure I could 'stomp all over' Aizen if I wanted to, but that would only alienate my friends, get me hunted down by the people I am trying to save, oh, and there is the minor manner of Aizen's little Arrancar Army. I can't be in two places at once let alone three."

"But your official," Shinji said.

"What?"

Shinji gestured at Ichigo's shihakushou. "You are an official Shinigami, aren't ya?"

Ichigo looked down at himself. "Newly graduated, Thirteenth Division," Ichigo said with pride. It had taken him over eight years to get around to changing his status from Substitute Shinigami to Shinigami. It was something of an accomplishment for someone who was still -maybe- alive.

"You sided with the Shinigami, kami knows how you pulled that one off. Why don't you ask them to help you?" Shinji asked carefully studying Ichigo's reiatsu again. There was something wrong with it. Shinji's eyes bulged as he realized what it was. The hollow taint was completely gone.

"They still think that the sun shines from Aizen's ass. I don't have time to undo all the brainwashing he has done over the last couple hundred years," Ichigo said. "I'm not exactly credible since I have just graduated from the academy and until this assignment was in fact Aizen's apprentice, of a sort. Anything I say against him will only alienate me."

Shinji wiped his brow. Urahara had mentioned the apprentice ship thing. The blond had been laughing the whole time. Shinji had thought it was a joke. This kid though... "I'm not going to save the Shinigami from themselves, not after what they did to us," He said with conviction.

"I don't want you to help them. I want you to help me stop Aizen, a Shinigami, the one who got you exiled," Ichigo said appealing to the one thing he knew Shinji would consider. He wondered if it was working at all. He studied Shinji's skeptic features.

_Damn, he isn't going for it, and I'm going to have to convince Ishida to help me at some point too. I'm just not good at this diplomatic shit._

"Then what _are_ you offering?" Shinji asked.

"Revenge," Ichigo said simply. _And maybe a pardon if everything goes well._ Yama-ji had done it once; it could happen again.

"Hmph!"

"You said yourself that I could stomp all over Aizen, but I can't protect everyone by myself," Ichigo admitted. "I need all the help I can get since Aizen wants to sacrifice Karakura for his plans. Please think about it."

Shinji went quiet for a long time. When he finally looked up Ichigo was staring into the darkness down the street. "I will discuss it with the others. No promises," he said finally.

Ichigo snapped out of his internal debate with Ossan. He nodded silently, and Shinji melted back into the shadows.

Ichigo sped home across the rooftops. There probably wouldn't be anymore hollow activity tonight anyway. He was going home to think things over. He would probably end up discussing them with his mom. She was pretty good at finding ways to solve problems.

_Why ya wanna bring them into it? _Shiro asked as Ichigo opened the front door.

"Okkasan? I'm home," Ichigo called into the house. _To help them, to help Karakura, to help us, and to fight Juhabach, _he said to the hollow.

_It will put them in danger, but they have to be seen fighting a common enemy with the Shinigami, _Ossan explained patiently for Shiro's benefit, and probably Ichigo's.

"Ichigo?" Masaki walked into the room smiling, followed by Isshin.

"Thank kami you are here Ichigo. Okkasan wouldn't let me have any milk and cookies until you got home," Isshin said throwing back his head and covering his eyes with his arm. "Milk and cookies, Ichigo, milk and cookies. What took you so long?"

Ichigo huffed and even smiled a little. Some things really never did change. In his own way Isshin was Ichigo's rock, a rock dyed bright pink with elephants on it that kept falling off the shelf onto your foot, but a stable part of Ichigo's life. Isshin wailed again.

_Kami help me, _Ichigo thought.

2

The next week turned out to be just as eventful for Ichigo. That is, long stretches of nothing punctuated by a few hours of heart thumping anxiety. The Kurosaki family had just settled down to dinner when there was a loud banging sound at the clinic door down stairs. Everyone stopped eating in surprise and exchanged looks. The clinic was closed. There shouldn't be anyone at the door at this time unless it was an emergency. The banging persisted.

"I should see who it is," Isshin said rising from the table.

"But the Clinic is closed," Karin said as Isshin left the room. It had been a long week for the Kurosaki Clinic with a particularly nasty summer flue bug going around. There was always someone wanting medication at the last minute just before the door was locked. Karin was already put out that Isshin had a tendency to stay open later for those people and Masaki, who help him would put off making dinner until everyone was seen to.

Ichigo had noticed that Kari was a lot closer to her father this time around, probably because Masaki was so good at keeping his more insane tendencies in check. And She was acting more feminine from Masaki's influence no doubt, even if she still dominated on the soccer field. Ichigo had actually seen her wear skirts since he had come back.

Yuzu was still Yuzu through and through. And stuck to her mother like glue. While Yuzu no longer made meals by herself as she had when Masaki had died, she still helped in the kitchen and actually spent more time baking than cooking the meals.

Ichigo was still amazed at the differences having Masaki around made in the twins.

"Shh, It might be an emergency," Masaki said admonishing her daughter. "We have a duty to help if we can."

Ichigo set down his bowl and followed his father out of the room. He was completely useless in the clinic; he knew that, but this scenario felt familiar. The last time there had been an emergency at the clinic...

"Masaki! prepare some beds, at least four! There's been a car accident!" Isshin yelled up the stairs.

Ichigo broke into a sprint He entered the clinic just in time to see his dad heave Chad into one of the beds. Everything snapped into place; Shibata and the serial killer hollow. His mother and sister's pushed passed him to help.

"...down at the traffic light," Isshin was explaining to Masaki when Ichigo snapped out of his memories. "We need to get down there and see who we can move here. I already called the emergency responders to handle anyone we can't. Ichigo?"

Ichigo blinked and focused on his dad. "Can you take care of this big fella for awhile?"

Ichigo grimaced. "I think Chad will be fine dad. He's tough. I got to take care of the hollow that caused this," He said vaguely. The words sounded callous even to his own ears.

"Ichigo our priority is saving lives right now. The hollow can wait," Isshin said looking disapprovingly at his son. Though his eyes told him that Isshin himself would be going after the hollow if he could.

How had Ichigo missed it all those years ago. Isshin had always recognized the signs of a hollow attack, even if he couldn't see the hollow itself. Why hadn't they ever talked before?

"Tou-san, this hollow is a serial killer, and he is using the soul of a young boy as bait for his victims.

Isshin winced at Ichigo's words. "I really do need your help here," He said.

"Shibata," Chad gasped from the bed. He lifted himself into a sitting position. "It still has Shibata. I have to save him."

"Whoa there big guy," Isshin said trying to push Chad back down with little success.

Chad ignored him and stared Ichigo right in the eye. "Something pushed me into traffic. You know what it was?"

Ichigo nodded.

"It took my parakeet. I have to go find him." Chad stood up with a grunt.

Isshin was about to say something, but just then Masaki and the girls were back with with the accident victims. One of the paramedics that had met them at the site called over to him.

Isshin pinched his nose and stepped back from Chad. "I'm getting too old for this. You take care of the hollow and the boy's soul," He said and hurried to take care of his patients.

"I'll send Kon down to help you," Ichigo called after him. Isshin didn't answer already deep in convwersation with the paramedic as the man listed injuries.

Chad moved for the door again, and Ichigo planted himself right in front of Chad's hulking form and slapped him palm on the big guy's chest. Chad stopped surprised that he wasn't moving forward.

"You need to get back in bed. I'll take care of Shibata," Ichigo told him.

Chad stared down at him, but Ichigo held firm. He was used to Chad's stubborn silences.

"I told Shibata that I would protect him," Chad said.

"And the sooner you get back into bed the sooner I can leave to go find him," Ichigo said. "That's how you are going to help him."

Chad's face screwed up into a mulish expression before he stepped back suddenly almost causing Ichigo to over balance. Ichigo glared up at him. Rock walls were absolutely not allowed to move.

"You can take care of this thing that has Shibata?" Chad asked tilting his head to the side.

"It's what I do," Ichigo answered.

Chad nodded thoughtfully and sat down on the bed with his hands hanging over his knees, waiting.

Ichigo glanced around the clinic. Everyone was busy with the other victims. He took a deep breath, "Alright then, I'll be back with the bird." Then he ran upstairs before he could start second guessing himself.

"Kon?" he yelled as he ran into the living area.

"What?" The stuffed lion snapped as he wiggled his legs before dropping from one step to the other below. He was still half way up the stairs and very annoyed that it would take him another ten minutes or more to get down to the living area on his own. Kon wiped his brow as he looked down at the living area. "Where is everyone? Yuzu didn't bring me down because I was taking a nap and next thing I know everyone is running and shouting."

Ichigo rushed up the stairs and grabbed the stuffed animal. "There's been a pretty bad car accident down the street. Do you think you can help in the clinic?"

Kon struggled for a second before giving up. "Not in this body," He said with a snort.

"Not that one, this one," Ichigo said jabbing his thumb into his own chest.

"Eh? Your're not going to help?" Kon asked.

Ichigo shook his head. "I'm useless at this medical stuff, and I need to take care of the hollow that caused the accident." He reached into Kon's mouth before he could answer and pulled out the little green pill. He dropped the pill into his mouth and swallowed. After his soul separated from his body he turned to face Kon who was blinking at him and rubbing his eye.

"You gotta give me more warning than that," Kon grumbled.

Ichigo ignored it. "Can you at least watch Chad?"

"Chad?" Kon asked. He had yet to meet Ichigo's friend.

"The big guy in the clinic. You will know him when you see him," Ichigo called over his shoulder as he ran out the door.

Out in the street Ichigo concentrated to find Shibata's spirit ribbon as he had years before. Even with all his training in reiatsu sensing finding a spirit ribbon was still the easiest and the fastest way for him to find someone. Surprisingly the ribbon came to him quickly. His own reiatsu recognizing the feel of the spirit ribbon even after all of this time. Once he had the thread in hand he took off in that direction taking to the roof tops to save himself some time. After a few blocks Ichigo happened to look down and saw Chad running along the street below.

"Shit," Ichigo said out loud. He should have known that Chad had given up far too easily back at the clinic. And how the hell did he know where to go? Could Chad already be able to sense spirits to such a degree?

Ichigo jumped off of the building and started to pace the running human.

"Oi!" He yelled. "What the hell do you think you are doing?"

To his surprise Chad glanced over right at him and startled, rather violently. Chad whirled to face Ichigo and thrust out his hand awkwardly. He ended up hitting Ichigo in the chin. It didn't hurt but it made Ichigo jump back.

"What?" Chad asked wide eyed. His eyes kept skittering away from Ichigo as if it was hard to look at him.

"Why did you leave the clinic? I told you that I would take care of it," Ichigo demanded.

"Ichigo?" Chad asked waving his hand in Ichigo's general direction. He ended up almost putting Ichigo's eye out with his finger.

"Yeah it's me," Ichigo said backing up to a safe distance. "You can't really see me can you?"

"Just a wavy heat mirage," Chad said. He reached out again curious as to how Ichigo was pulling this stunt off.

"Quit that," Ichigo said slapping Chad's hand away. "I'm a spirit. You aren't supposed to be able to see me at all."

"Mm," Chad turned his back to Ichigo. "Interesting, but I have other things to do right now."

"Chad, you can't fight this hollow," Ichigo said stepping in front of his friend. Chad squinted at him balefully.

"I have a promise to keep," Chad tried to push Ichigo out of the way.

"You can't fight spirits," Ichigo blurted out. Which probably wasn't completely true, but Chad sure as hell couldn't fight spirits and win at this point.

"I am going," Chad said with finality and ran off in the direction of Shibata and the hollow.

Ichigo cursed and broke into a shunpo. At least he could try to get there first before Chad got himself killed.

3

**A/N For those concerned about Orihime and her part in this story: **I don't want to slog through any hate mail over this so I'm just going to say off the bat that Orihime does eventually get her powers back. Just not the way she gets them in cannon. This is the worst part of writing a chapter a month. Some people can't wait to read what happens next and then start imagining things, then blame the writer for whatever they imagine.

But on a brighter note this story almost has 2000 favorites. That's really cool. I didn't think a time travel AU would do that well, especially considering some of the competition in that niche. Thanks to everyone that likes the story so far, and I really hope that we all make it to the end.


	24. Chapter 24

1

Shibata came into view first. The bird cage was perched on a low wall running along the sidewalk. It looked like a trap. Chad surged passed Ichigo when Shibata saw him and started flapping his wings frantically and hopping around on his perch.

"No!" The little boy's voice wailed. "You have to go. He'll kill you!"

Ichigo instinctively reached out to grab the back of Chad's shirt. Just as his fingers closed around the fabric he was bowled over by the sheer force of dozens of miniature hollows. Chad slipped through his fingers, and Ichigo cursed. He had forgotten about that. This hollow had the ability to turn weaker thrall hollows into bombs. he hardened his reiatsu as a shield and smiled grimly. This hollow could throw as many minions at Ichigo as he wanted this time. If there was one thing Ichigo and learned, and learned well, it was how to take a hit.

He waded uncaring through the writhing mass of hollows that, as much as they clawed and bit him, couldn't even rip his clothes. He moved away from Chad and Shibata so that the inevitable blast from the exploding hollows would not injure them. Ichigo crouched down under the mass of writhing hollows as if he had fallen and waited for the main hollow to show itself.

"It's alright. We are here to save you," Chad told the frantically flapping bird as he picked up the cage.

"No! Your friend! They are attacking your friend!" Shibata yelled at the top of his lungs as Ichigo went down.

Chad startled and whirled around trying to pinpoint that hazy, not quite there disruption that told him where Ichigo was standing. He stared at the much larger flutter of heat waves some distance away from him and Shibata.

Chad wasn't even sure of what he was seeing. It looked like something out of a nightmare. Every once in awhile a transparent white face would appear, but mostly it was a shadowy mass that had no origin.

A faint far away laugh filled Chad's ears, and his head turned back and forth trying to discern the location of the sound.

"He's here, he's here. You have to run now!" Shibata shrieked.

Suddenly the mass of horror and shadow exploded.

"Some Shinigami they sent to protect you." A chill went down Chad's spine. Ichigo had seemed so confident in his abilities. "That worthless piece of trash has already fallen to my minions, didn't even put up a fight." The dual tone voice sneered. "At least the last one put up a decent fight."

The hollow grabbed Chad by the shoulder with one dinner plate sized hand. Chad gritted his teeth as the hollow shook him like a rag doll and threw him up against the wall. Chad rolled, still holding the cage, to protect Shibata from the fall.

"Actually, I was just waiting for you to come out of hiding," Ichigo said as he stood up dusting off his shihakushou.

The hollow turned from Chad to face Ichigo. Hollow masks didn't show shock very well, but this one managed to pull it off. Ichigo slowly drew Zangetsu. And Chad's fist hit the hollow full on in the mask. Even Ichigo was taken aback by his friend's audacity.

Chad blinked at where his fist connected with the hollow seeing his opponent for the first time. The monstrous appearance of the hollow didn't faze him at all. He had half been expecting something that would use a child as bait for it's victims to look horrifying. What did surprise Chad was the sight of Ichigo dressed in traditional clothing and carrying two, very big, very impressive swords. He stepped back from the hollow, who was shaking it's head to clear it.

"I was trying to be cool," Ichigo complained sarcastically. The smile on his face was friendly and good natured. He was completely unfazed by the explosion that had engulfed him. "Good shot by the way. I did way worse with my first hollow. Back up a bit, would ya? This could get ugly."

Chad obligingly backed up toward Shibata who had fallen silent in awe when Ichigo was revealed to be unhurt. He was one hundred percent sure that he was merely in the way now, and he was doubly sure that this hollow thing was way out classed as well. Chad decided that watching over Shibata was the better part of valor.

But the hollow hadn't seemed to catch on. "He hehe, so the little Shinigami has some fight in him after all," it said sliding it's long tongue over it's teeth. "Get him!"

Out of nowhere small lizard like hollows swarmed Ichigo, many more than had done so the first time. The whole street around Ichigo was writhing with them. The hollow laughed again delightedly and clicked his tongue against his teeth and all of the hollow exploded engulfing Ichigo and half of the street in a white hot fireball.

"Hahahahha- huh?"

The hollow's insane laughter cut short as the blast cleared and Ichigo stood unfazed. He hadn't moved a centimeter. "The same trick isn't going to work just because you use more explosives." Ichigo sneered at the hollow. That laugh was grating on his ears. He had forgotten how annoying this hollow had been to fight. He jumped forward intent on bisecting the pest, when the little shit spread his wings and leaped into the air.

"Ha ha, didn't expect that did you?"The hollow screamed gleefully as he pulled himself up out of sword's reach.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and started to charge up a getsuga tenshou. One shot should do it. This hollow was too impressed with itself to notice that Ichigo had hardly done anything at all.

_Wait,_ Ossan spoke up suddenly.

_What? _Ichigo snapped back. He really wanted to beat the shit out of this hollow so of course Ossan wanted to say something. Ichigo hunched his shoulders and turned his attention inwards. He knew that Ossan would not continue until he had Ichigo's full attention.

_Feel the hollow's reiatsu, _Ossan said patiently unmoved by Ichigo's short temper.

_I don't really have time to do that right now, _Ichigo said side stepping as the hollow dived at him.

_Just do it. The Master of Impeccable Timing is trying to teach you something, _Shiro said not the least bit ironically.

Ichigo growled under his breath as he dodged another clawed attack. Every time he was fighting in a non life or death situation Zangetsu thought it was perfect for instructional training. Ichigo glanced at Chad to make sure that he was okay.

Chad was staring at him with his head tilted slightly to the side. As if to say: 'What are you waiting for?'

Ichigo took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He reached out for the hollow's reiatsu. New reiatsu signatures still took a lot of concentration on his part to pick out.

_"What the hell is that?" _Ichigo recoiled. He flinched when he realized that he had said that out loud.

_Exactly, _Shiro said helpfully. There was a brief scuffle and a fading scream.

_That is a soul that had been corrupted. _Ossan answered. _You must destroy it._

_That was what I was going to do, _Ichigo complained.

_You must use your Quincy abilities to do so. _Ossan's voice dropped low and harsh. _Eradicate it. _

Ichigo snapped back to reality and the screeching taunts of the hollow above. The whole exchange had taken less than a second. Ichigo wished it had taken longer. He massaged his temple with his free hand as the hollow spewed abuse. Ichigo rearranged the the energy he had drawn into Zangetsu so that it had a colder feel. The kind of energy that would destroy the soul.

"You pathetic Shinigami. Why wont you die?!" The hollow screamed diving in for another pass.

In answer Ichigo swept Zangetsu in an upward strike releasing an arch of energy at the hollow. It missed. Those precious seconds that it took to convert the energy gave the annoying hollow time to dodge.

Ichigo glared internally at Ossan to absolutely no response. He drew his other blade. He needed to buy himself time if he was going to use his Quincy abilities to kill this hollow. He gathered more energy for the not- Getsuga Tenshou and disappeared from view. He reappeared in the hollow's blind spot several feet above the ground. He stuck his shorter blade into he hollow's side.

The hollow shrieked in pain and attempted to claw at Ichigo's face. The claws barely scored Ichigo's skin through his reiatsu. With the hollow pinned in place. Ichigo swung hos other blade and released the energy splitting the hollow in two.

A strong wind swirled through the street. Ichigo remembered this part of the battle all too well. It wasn't something that he could rightfully forget. He planted his foot on the hollow's hip and ripped his blade from its side and flipping back well away from the large double doors appeared. As Ichigo landed the skeletons adorning the blood red doors opened. A huge hand holding a word that dwarfed Zangetsu was about to impale the hollow and drag it to Hell. That was how things worked; he had been told.

The hollow disintegrated in a flash of white light. Ichigo blinked to clear the after image from his eyes, then the howling began. It started loud and rose to a bone rattling crescendo before it faded and the doors slammed shut. The sudden silence was just as shocking as the noise had been.

That hadn't happened last time.

Chad stepped up next to Ichigo who was standing silently with his mouth hanging open, Shibata in the cage hanging limply from his fingers. "What was that?" Chad asked. On the outside at least. On the inside his stomach was trying to run away and was having trouble carrying the rest of him with it.

"I think I just pissed someone off," Ichigo answered.

"You don't seemed worried," Chad pointed out.

Ichigo shrugged. "It happens a lot."

Chad opened his mouth and then shut it. No, it just wasn't worth it. He would figure out why at some point.

"We should get back to the clinic, "Ichigo said turning to face Chad. "But there is something that I have to do first." He took Shibata's cage from Chad's hand and set it down on the concrete. The little bird shrank back as Ichigo studied him.

"What's going to happen to Shibata?" Chad asked tensing. It didn't make any sense for Ichigo to save the bird only to kill it but... He stood behind Ichigo ready to jump forward and stop him if he had to.

"I need to send his soul to the Soul Society," Ichigo answered quietly. He knew that look. Chad was preparing for the worst. "Shibata is the soul of a young boy who has already passed. He needs to go to the Soul Society or he may end up turning into a monster like the one I just killed."

Ichigo knelt next to the cage. "Shibata, I know that you want to find your mother."

The parakeet hopped closer now listening intently. "You know where mommy is?" He asked hopefully.

Ichigo wilted a bit. Rukia was always better at this part. "No, I don't."

The little bird slumped dejectedly.

"But I do know where you can start looking."

Shibata perked up again tilting his head to the side curiously. "Where?"

"When people die they go to the Soul Society. It's likely that your mother is there," Ichigo answered.

Shibata started to hop from foot to foot excitedly. "Yes please. I want to go. I want to go to mommy." Then he stopped hopping and looked up at Chad sheepishly. "Um, I think I have to go," he said uncertainly.

Chad smiled encouragingly. "I'll be alright. You go find your mother." He shifted his gaze to Ichigo. "How do you send them on?"

Ichigo drew his shorter blade. It was less intimidating; he thought. From the looks on Chad and Shibata's faces it wasn't comforting. "Relax," he said belatedly and reversed the blade sword in his hand. He touched the hilt to Shibata's head. "Go and find the Shiba family once you get to the Soul Society," Ichigo said with sudden inspiration. Just tell them Isshin's son sent you." He smiled internally, and it wasn't kind. He loved getting his dad into trouble, and this should stir the hornet nest nicely.

"Thank you," Shibata said as he began to glow with a golden light. For a moment Chad and Ichigo saw the boy as he had been while he was alive. Shibata waved at them, smiling before sinking into a circle of light.

2

Ichigo decided to bring Chad back to the clinic with him. As stoic as the other boy was Ichigo could see the tale tell stiffness to his gate that indicated a great deal of pain that he was trying to hide. On the way Ichigo explained briefly what a Shinigami was and his unique situation as a living Shinigami with a living family. Chad remained quiet and contemplative the whole walk back.

Outside the clinic door Ichigo put his hand on Chad's arm to stop him.

Chad looked at him with his hand on the door. He sighed and pushed it open. They entered the clinic It was much quieter than it had been earlier. Most of the accident victims had been moved to the hospital. Isshin and Kon were busy cleaning up. Chad did a double take when he saw Kon. His gaze flipped from Ichigo to Kon and back again as his mind tried to make sense of two identical Ichigos.

"Oh, you came back," Isshin commented. Ichigo winced. His dad was in serious mode.

Kon looked up from re-wrapping a roll of bandages. "Hi, I'm Kon," He said to Chad. He smiled disarmingly. "I take care of Ichigo's body while he goes all spirity."

"Hop up on a bed," Isshin ordered. "You look like you are trying not to fall over. Please, do take the required time to recover," he said dryly.

Chad winced and slowly moved over to the bed and removed his shirt. Kon gasped when he saw the bloody hollow hand print on Chad's back.

"Quite impressive for a human," Isshin commented. "Most wouldn't be able to move after a hit like that, let alone run half way across town and fight a hollow." He grinned to show that he wasn't angry. "That's my son's job by the way. We should leave him to it." He began cleaning Chad's wound. "You know, Ichigo doesn't usually bring his friend's home. I was starting to think that he didn't have any, and then you wander in all by yourself." Isshin smiled at his own joke.

Chad looked over to Ichigo, his face full of questions. Ichigo shrugged apologetically, and grabbed Kon by the wrist dragging him over to the other side of the room.

"I need my body back now," he hissed into Kon's ear.

"Whoa, whoa, so soon?" Kon asked snatching his wrist back and wiping his ear. _So this is what they mean by spitting mad,_ he thought. "You owe me for that nightmare," He said.

"You don't understand. Goat-Face is trying to talk to Chad, Chad of all people." Ichigo grabbed Kon by the shoulders. "This is an emergency."

Kon shifted his attention dubiously over Ichigo's shoulder to where Isshin was now wrapping Chad's wounds. "So... you like bright colored shirts?" Isshin probed trying to make conversation.

"Ummhmm," Was Chad's response as he waited patiently for Isshin to finish.

Kon sighed. "As painful as that is to watch. I don't think your dad being corny constitutes an emergency. In fact, I would think it was the status quo. Just kick his ass in spirity form."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes and weighed the pros and cons of just knocking Kon out of his body. The little monster probably wouldn't let him sleep for a week. Ichigo tried bribery instead. " Goat-face isn't that resilient. Okay, how about this, I'll give you my body all weekend. I'll even let you start Friday; you can go to school."

"Yay," Kon said in a monotone. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Only if I can skip school."

Ichigo face-palmed. "Damn it, Kon, you know that test is coming up. How am I supposed to beat Ishida if I don't get the material?"

"Let go of this unhealthy nerd war you have going with him?" Kon asked facetiously. "No? Then borrow notes from the friend you want to 'save'." Kon said his words dripping with so much irony that it puddled at his feet. "Three days, uninterrupted, no school, no training, no boring club meetings..."

"You were the one that wanted to see what the school clubs were all about," Ichigo said unapologetically. He threw his hands up. "Fine, just give me my body so that I can kick the Old Man's ass," Ichigo hissed.

As soon as Kon nodded assent he punched his own body in the solar plexus, caught Kon and laid his body out on the floor and settled into it. The moment he could feel his fingers and toes, Ichigo jumped up and aimed a roundhouse kick at Isshin's head. "Stop embarrassing me!"

Isshin bounced off the far wall and threw his arms around Ichigo's waist without missing a beat.

"But my precious son! A good father always checks out his little boy's friends to prevent bad influences from corrupting his little boy to evil!"

Chad, now standing next to the bed with his shirt hanging from one hand, mouth hanging open, doubled over with laughter.

Ichigo stopped trying to pry Isshin off of him by force to stare. He rarely got to see Chad show this much emotion. Ichigo was happy his friend could laugh, even if it was at his expense.

Isshin stood triumphantly and strutted over to the stairs leading up to the family residence. "Why don't you join us for a late dinner," he offered.

Chad glanced at Ichigo who nodded. Chad nodded to Isshin and started up the stairs, then stopped. "You and the other one," he said slowly, "You share the same body?"

Ichigo scratched his head. It was obvious, to him at least, that this bothered Chad more than a little bit. He held out the green pill. "This is Kon," He said. "He doesn't have a body of his own, so he uses mine sometimes." Ichigo took a deep breath and launched into an explanation of Kon's circumstances to a wide eyed Chad. Isshin followed the boys up the stairs with a sigh. He had almost had the boys acting like normal teenagers. _Can't win them all, _he thought morosely.

"Masaki-chan, set one more place for dinner," Isshin called up the stairs. "Ichigo _does _have friends."

Ichigo stopped his whispered explanation long enough to turn back and glare at him.

"Really? They do exist?" Masaki's reply was not encouraging for Ichigo's ego, and hid parents wondered why they were never introduced to his friends. Ichigo shoved his hands into his pockets and resigned himself to being sullen for the rest of the evening.

Masaki and the twins were standing next to the table when they got up stairs. A sixth place was set next to Ichigo's across from the twins.

Masaki smiled brightly when she saw Chad. "Hello, welcome to our home," She said all smiles as she bowed. "I'm Masaki, Ichigo's mother, and these are the twins Karin and Yuzu." She touched each twin on the head as she named them.

Both girls stared at Chad with fascination as if they too did not quite believe that he was real. "Pleased to meet you," They both said in unison.

Chad bowed politely. "It is nice to meet you too. I'm Chad."

"Please sit," Masaki gestured at the new spot at the table.

Everyone sat and quietly filled their plates. It had been a long couple of hours no time was spent on small talk before the ritual "Itadakimasu" was chorused and everyone dug in.

"So Chad," Masaki said when the eating had slowed down enough for talk. "Tell us about yourself."

Chad froze briefly. He did not usually like to explain himself to strangers, even if they were well meaning.

Ichigo came to his rescue, "Chad's not much of a talker mom."

Chad smiled at him gratefully. He hated being the center of attention. But Masaksi seemed genuinely curious and Ichigo was his friend, so he decided to answer her question, briefly. "I was born in Okinawa before my family moved to Mexico. After they and my Abuleo died I moved back to Japan to go to school."

"Oh, I am so sorry," Masaki said covering her mouth with her hand.

Chad shrugged. "This is good," He said to get the subject off of him. The reaction he got was unexpected.

Ichigo froze with his chopsticks in his mouth. This wasn't Masaki's best. He didn't remember his mother's high standards for cooking from when he was a child, but it did make sense when he thought about Yuzu's love for cooking after she died.

Masaki snorted loudly enough to make Chad jump. "This is reheated," She said looking critically at the innocent piece of chicken on her plate as if it had mortally offended her. "If you want good food you should come over for dinner when it's fresh. In fact, you can come over for dinner anytime you like. A young man living by himself can't have many opportunities to have a good, home cooked meal."

"Okay?" Chad said uncertainly. He was almost too afraid to politely turn her down, or tell her that he could cook. He decided to change the subject to a safer topic. "This is a nice family. You don't mind your son going out and fighting monsters?" He asked. He had so many questions that he wanted answered.

"I"s sort of a family occupation," Isshin said sheepishly. "I did it before going AWOL to marry Masaki-chan."

"And I fought hollows regularly before I moved back to Japan, and my cousin's family wouldn't let me. They were afraid that I would meet a big bad Shinigami." Both she and Isshin laughed at an inside joke.

Chad stared blankly at the two before it clicked. "Him?" Chad asked Ichigo pointing at Isshin.

"Yeah, I still have problems believing that tou-san was powerful enough to not only be a Shinigami but a taichou as well," Ichigo answered.

"But Masaki-san isn't a Shinigami?"

"No, kaa-san was a Quincy."

While Chad absorbed this new information he glanced over at the twins, who were both watching him with wide eyed attentiveness.

"Are you really a high school student?" Karin asked when she caught him looking at her.

Chad nodded. "I'm fifteen."

"Whoa." Karin hid behind her rice bowl.

"Karin," Masaki admonished.

"What? Have you ever seen a high school student that big before?" She demanded. "I bet he could pick tou-san up."

"Karin, don't be mean," Yuzu said adopting her mother's posture; chin up and back stiff with disapproval.

"I'm just saying," Karin said crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

Chad ignored the reflexive reaction to his size. She hadn't said anything his teachers hadn't when they had first met him.

"How did you get that big?" Karin asked suddenly.

Chad gazed back steadily. "I ate all my vegetables while I was young."

Karin's eyes flicked down to her previously untouched vegetables, and back to Chad just in case he was messing with her. He gazed back soberly and nodded.

Isshin giggled when his picky daughter attacked her vegetables. He had given up on that a long time ago after Karin had shoved green beans up his nose. He liked this kid. He was strong, smart, and could say more with a look than most people could say with a hundred words.

"What is a Quincy?" Chad asked. It was very hard keeping Ichigo's family on topic. His jaw hurt from speaking so much.

"Well, basically Quincy are humans with very high levels of reiatsu, some even as high as Shinigami Taichou. We can interact with spirits as if they were corporeal." Masaki explained."

"So I am a Quincy now?"

"No," Masaki shook her head. "Echt Quincy are born with their abilities, and Gemischt have to be taught by other Quincy's, how to absorb reishi and manifest it as weapons. You had your powers awakened by a traumatic experience with a hollow, and survived it. Not many people do. Those people are known as Fulbringers. Like the Quincy, Fulbringers try to keep a low profile."

Chad tilted his head to the side. A very disturbing picture was being painted here. Masaki had already mentioned the Big Bad Shinigami once. "And the Shinigami?"

"Shinigami are powerful human spirits with moderately high to extremely high reiatsu." Isshin said. We consider ourselves the elite of the Soul Society, and of all of the different spirits you may meet. And we don't like competition," He finished in a low voice. "So don't go introducing yourself to anyone wearing a black shihakushou anytime soon, and if you are unlucky enough to see one with a white haori, run."

Chad's breath caught. The implications of that warning were unsettling to say the least.

"Not all Shinigami are evil," Ichigo said. "Some are pretty cool as individuals. They just go by a rigid class system from the time before Tokagawa took power."

Ichigo was the only one sitting at the table with first hand experience of how accepting Shinigami could be. After their governing body was assassinated true, but still... "Ukitake-Taichou is a nice, easy going man."

"Yes, but he is one of the older taichou," Isshin warned.

"Who listens," Ichigo said feeling the need to defend his taichou. He was actually surprised at how fast loyalty had snuck up on him, but after seeing how the Thirteenth was run from the inside he knew that Ukitake- Taichou was very progressive for a Shinigami.

"I see," Chad said breaking up what could have been a very long winded debate between father and son. This was really taxing his social abilities, even though he like Ichigo's family just fine. "Will I be able to fight these hollows in the future?"

"Yes," Ichigo said definitively. "You just have to get your powers to manifest themselves."

Chad nodded. Maybe Ichigo could help him with that.

"So Chad doesn't have an imaginary friend like Nii-san?" Yuzu asked shyly from behind her rice bowl.

Ichigo's eyes bugged out, and he started choking on air. The last thing he needed was for that bit of rumor to get around. At least it was Chad she was mentioning it to.

"Imaginary friend?" Chad asked Isshin. Ichigo was still spazzing.

"She means a zanpakutou spirit. You probably saw Ichigo use his zanpakutou while fighting the hollow." Isshin explained. "They have spirit forms as well... mostly inside a Shinigami's inner world."

"So they are real?" Chad asked.

"It's part of being a Shinigami. It's kind of like meeting your spirit animal or something." Masaki clarified, sort of.

"And I want one," Karin chimed in. "Can you imagine being able to shoot lighting from a blade or freeze stuff or or..." She trailed off too excited by the different things Ichigo had told her zanpakutou could do. If Karin had her way her zanpakutou would be the world's scariest Swiss Army Knife.

"I don't know about all of that, but having someone to talk to no matter what sounds nice," Yuzu said. Ichigo hadn't had the heart to tell her how antagonistic Zangetsu could be so she still thought of him as an extra older brother.

After dinner Ichigo saw Chad out. "Thank you," He said to his friend.

"What for?" Chad asked surprised. "I should be the one thanking you." He reached into the collar of his shirt and pulled out his grandfather's coin. "You did return this, didn't you?"

Ichigo nodded. "But still thank you for not calling my whole family crazy."

Chad took a deep breath. "They are... unique."

Ichigo laughed.


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: Next month I will not be updating "Second Chances." Instead I will be updating my other fan fic "Forgotten Secrets of Soul Bonds."

1

After much consideration and internal debate Chad ended up going to a place called the Urahara Shoten with Ichigo. It was obvious Ichigo had no idea how to teach someone about their own spiritual powers. He had told Chad that he couldn't imagine learning about his own spiritual powers without nearly dying, which was why he was having a moral problem with bringing Chad to one of his teachers. He promised to keep Chad out of danger not subject him to whatever crazy lesson plan Urahara could cook up.

He trudged up the porch to the shoten behind Ichigo. A young girl and boy peeked at him from behind the door frame. The boy stuck his tongue out at Ichigo.

"Don't you have chores to do or something?" Ichigo said as he tried to enter the shoten.

The boy planted himself square in the doorway and puffed up his chest trying to take up as much room as his small frame could. "We don't have to do what you say."

The girl sighed in the boy's direction. Then she bowed in Chad's direction. "Welcome, I'm Ururu, and this is Jinta."

"Hey! Don't invite them in," Jinta yelled pulling at Ururu's closest pigtail.

Chad swooped in to the rescue. He dislodged Jinta's hand from the pigtail and picked the boy up by his shoulders. Jinta kicked his legs futilely. Chad's arms were too long for him to reach. Ururu gazed up at Chad eyes shining with admiration. Jinta continued yelling.

"My my, what is with all the ruckus?" A blond man said stepping out of the shadows of the door. "This is a place of business," He hooked his cane over his arm and smiled at Chad; it was a warning.

Chad grunted and set Jinta down. Jinta ran over to the man. "Jinta why don't you and Ururu go play out back."

"I'm not a little kid," Jinta complained as Ururu grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him through the store.

"But I'm assuming that because it is you he isn't a paying customer," Urahara said to Ichigo.

"When was the last time you had a paying customer?" Ichigo asked. Chad shifted. A store owner without customers?

"Recently," Urahara said with a pout.

Ichigo let that go with a wave. "This is my friend Chad. Chad this is Urahara the one I said could help you."

Urahara swept out his fan and started tapping his knee with it.

"You remember when I told you about my other friends developing Fulbringer powers?" Ichigo explained. This wasn't the first time that he had brought someone special here after all.

Urahara snapped the fan open and studied Chad over the edge. "I see. I am assuming that this is one of your classmates? One that you have spent a lot of time around?"

Ichigo nodded.

"And he recently had a run in with a hollow as a result of hanging around you?"

Chad tilted his head in Ichigo's direction.

"I'm powerful enough to make people spiritually aware just by being around them. It attracts hollows too," Ichigo answered the silent question.

"Yes, but that does not explain why you brought him here," Urahara pressed.

Ichigo straightened up from his usual careless slouch. "Chad needs to learn how to use his powers. I thought that you could help with that."

Urahara's eyebrows shot up. "I am not exactly suited to training novices."

"I know that. My first lesson with you was a traumatizing experience that I will never forget, but you are the best teacher that I have had." Ichigo shook himself.

Chad was starting to believe that it would be better for him to just experiment by himself. Ichigo obviously wasn't thrilled at the prospect, and this man seemed off.

Urahara tapped his paper fan on his chin. "Hmm, If I remember correctly, I called on Yoruichi to help with your _other _friends. If I do that it will be a few days before we can start," He said snapping his fan closed decisively. "I will send a message. Would you like to join me for some tea?"

Both Chad and Ichigo tensed from the conversational whiplash. They exchanged a glance.

_What could it hurt, _Chad's eyes said.

_Hold that thought, _Ichigo's answered wryly.

"Oh and Ichigo," Urahara said as they followed him down the hall to the back.

"Yes," Ichgo said warily. Chad could tell by the way he tensed that he expected the next words to piss him off.

"Behave."

"Fuck," Ichigo said without explanation.

It was an odd thing for Urahara to say, but Chad got his answer as soon as Ichigo saw the other man at the table.

"Double fuck."

"Language Ichigo," Urahara sang as he took his place.

Chad looked between Ichigo and the admittedly strange man sitting at the table. The coat and the make-up were a bit over the top. Chad wondered if he was an otaku.

"You are growing into your powers, I see," The man commented to Ichigo.

"Why you-" Chad put a restraining hand on Ichigo's arm cutting him short. The other boy whirled around with a look of shock on his face. Ichigo had forgotten that Chad was even there.

"We are guests," Chad said placidly. It had always worked on Ichigo before; the other boy listened to him.

Ichigo opened his mouth to argue, but promptly shut it.

"Indeed Ichigo-kun, everyone here is working toward the same goal," Urahara said mildly. "Now sit down."

Ichigo sat stiffly glaring alternately at Urahara and the other man. Chad took the spot next to him and nodded at the man in glasses who sat a cup of tea in front of him and Ichigo.

"We have the same goals?" The cosplayer asked surveying everyone at the table. "I was not aware of this."

"Same long term goals," Urahara said without missing a beat. What made him so confident? "But I think that you two should make-up and at least pretend to be friends for the foreseeable future."

"I have nothing to apologize for," the man said.

Ichigo snorted.

"Ichigo admirably regained control of his zanpakutou spirit, and I would hazard that they have been much closer since," The man continued.

Chad narrowed his eyes. There it was again, zanpakutou spirit. Obviously the weapon that Ichigo used was his zanpakutou, but what was it's spirit?

Ichigo sat quietly sipping his tea. He looked tense. "That was a test?" he asked finally.

"Of a sort," Urahara admitted. "It was more of a bonding exercise, though I did expect your doppelganger to be the one captured."

Chad sat back deep in thought. It seemed that the other three had forgotten that he was in the room. They also seemed to forget the other man who stood quietly in the corner. He studied Urahara more closely. The scraggly beard and old clothes made his seem dismissable, but there was cunning in his eyes and he sat poised ready for an attack at any moment. This was the man that Ichigo wanted to help him? Chad understood little of what the conversation was about, but Ichigo seemed very disturbed by past events. He kept fidgetting with his cup.

"What exactly is a zanpakutou spirit?" Chad asked out loud. "I have heard that it is a person, and a Shinigami's main weapon, but..."

"You are quite right," Urahara said brightly.

The other man fiddled with his full tea cup. "I am a zanpakutou spirit. Muramasa at your service," He said in his rough voice while executing a strangely elegant seated bow.

Chad's eyes widened. He had not imagined that they had meant literally another person.

"One whose wielder is being kept from him," The man glared at Urahara. "When will you tell me where Kuchiki-sama is hidden?" He raised his voice in anger.

Urahara frowned at the table top. "Our enemy is moving much slower than anticipated."

Enemy? What had he walked into.

"No he isn't, by my count we still have a couple of weeks," Ichigo said.

"And I told you that your version means nothing right now," Urahara said. "Though right now it is all we have to go on."

"I tire of your delays," Muramasa spat. "You know where Kuchiki-sama is, tell me!"

"And would you stick around to for fill your part of the bargain?" Urahara asked tilting his head low so that his eyes were hidden in the shadow of his hat. "I'm fairly sure that you would abandon us for your master the instant he is free."

Muramasa hissed at Urahara.

"Wait a second," Ichigo said suddenly. "Kuchiki Kouga killed hundreds of innocents. Why would you go back to him? Don't tell me you actually enjoyed hurting people."

Muramasa snorted "No of course not, I wanted great things for Kuchiki-sama." He took a deep breath. But do you think that I want to continue living like this?"

For the first time Ichigo saw how ragged the other looked. Muramasa put up a good front but his coat was dirty and torn, his hair mussed, and bloodshot eyes stared at out from his dark shadowed eyes.

"Umm, I guess not," The fight left Ichigo suddenly. He seemed uncomfortable with the zanpakutou's suffering. "Can't you just find a new wielder? I know that Tousen's zanpakutou used to belong to someone else."

Muramasa flinched. "I have been with Kuchiki-sama from the moment of my conception. Do you think it is that easy to leave him behind?"

"Well the God of the Zanpakutou said that the zanpakutou chooses its wielder, not the other way around," Ichigo said defensively.

Urahara stiffened slightly as if poised to pounce. "It is true," He said heavely. "A zanpakutou can find its wielder unfit and seek out another. Many Shdinigami also leave behind powerful zanpakutous when they die." His voice dropped to almost sub-vocal. "The one they choose doesn't even have to be a Shinigami beforehand."

There was a sidlence at the table. Chad tried to absorb the fact that a part of your soul could decide you are unfit and leave.

"If I were to choose another wielder," Muramasa said suddenly. "Wouldn't the Soul Society still come after me and whoever I choose? I have been declared a danger by the head of the Kuchiki clan himself, and the Sou-taichou agreed with him. If you were ordered young Shinigami to destroy me would you? Even if you knew and cared about my new wielder?"

"If anyone hurts someone I care about I will come after them in a second," Ichigo said evenly staring into Muramasa's eyes. "But bond like that is between you and whoever your wielder would be."

Muramasa smiled unnervingly. The expression fit his face oddly like it didn't belong there. "I believe you." He glared at Urahara. "Is this little meet and greet of yours over now?"

Urahara nodded completely unfazed by the venom in Muramasa's voice. He seemed too deep in thought to to care about the actions taking place around him. Until his gaze met Chad's.

Chad's breath hitched slightly. This man was sharp and knew exactly what he was doing by putting Ichigo and this Muramasa in the same room. Chad had become very good at reading people since he had stopped fighting. It was easier to avoid those fights when you paid attention. Urahara was silently asking him just how much he trusted Ichigo.

"Then I am done," Muramasa said standing u to leave. He walked out without a backward glance.

"Well that was fun," Urahara said airily.

Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"What? I already told you that he was working for me Urahara said with a smile. Even Chad could see that Ichigo had already pretty much forgiven the other man, which baffled him.

"I need to work off some steam," Ichigo said. He stood up and made his way to the opposite door from the one which Muramasa left.

"The basement is at your service, but-"

"Yes yes, I know. If I break anything Tou-san is getting another bill.

"And he still hasn't paid the last six," Urahara pouted.

"Not gonna happen," Ichigo returned.

Urahara sipped his tea and shrugged. His attention shifted to Chad. "And it was nice to meet you Chad. I am looking forward to seeing you grow." THe blond's eyes actually twinkled.

Chad bowed silently and followed Ichigo into the basement despite his unease about the man. Urahara seemed friendly enough, but Chad couldn't shake the feeling that something was ever so slightly off about him. He paused on the ladder he was climbing to look down after what seemed like a really long time to reach a basement floor. There was darkness and much more ladder to go. Chad continued to follow Ichigo down. When he saw the several blocks worth of open cavern Chad's mind shut down. The place just shouldn't have existed.

"I think that Urahara is actually part mole," Ichigo explained. "This is the second training area that I know he has made."

"He seems unique," Chad said out loud. "You trust him?"

Ichigo actually smiled to his surprise. "Urahara has an agenda, and doesn't hide that fact. Even if I don't really know what it is. But he has always helped me when I... asked," Ichigo stared into space remembering threatening to kill Urahara if he didn't save his mother. "Even if it was against his original plan."

Chad thought that was a strange way to put it, but there was a definite connection between Ichigo and Urahara. Chad could actually sense it.

"And the enemy you two mentioned?" He asked leaving his impressions to be thought over later. He did want to know what he was walking into after all.

"There is this man, Aizen, who wants to be a god. He is going to sacrifice Karakura to do it and destroy the Soul Society," Ichigo answered.

Chad's mouth fell open. He really hoped that this was a joke, but every line of Ichigo's body was tense and afraid when he said those words.

"He is going to kill everyone I care about, and I have to stop him." Ichigo went on clenching his fists.

2

Ichigo squatted at the ledge of a building and wrinkled his nose. The crab-squid-like hollow wasn't all that powerful by his standards, but it was impressively ugly.

Pincers and tentacles waved around agitatedly as it tried to find itself a way into the building across the street to get to the small spark of reiatsu Ichigo could sense inside. This hollow seemed to stupid to realize that it could phase through walls.

"You want to try it?" Ichigo asked his companion standing next to him.

Chad looked down at the hollow and shrugged. His left arm morphed into the white arm that Ichigo was used to seeing whenever Chad fought. He sighed satisfied with the way things had turned out. Yoruichi did good work, but she still hadn't gotten Chad to manifest his white arm yet.

Chad jumped off the roof and landed running. The hollow heard his inarticulate cry and turned in time to block Chad's fist on one of his pincers.

Ichigo shook his head. He understood the irony of him being in Rukia's position from all those years ago. He had been the one who would run head on into a fight with any hollow when he had started out. Though for Chad it was because of his since of honor and unwillingness to attack an unaware opponent rather than boneheaded stubbornness.

Pincers snapped and big bulbous black eyes swiveled around on stalks to get a good look at Chad.

"You aren't Shinigami," The hollow burbled almost unintelligibly. Ichigo had to concentrate carefully to understand the words. "What are you doing, human?" Don't you know that I will eat you?"

Ichigo snorted as the hollow tried to overpower Chad with its size. This was way below Chad's current level too. Chad pushed back twice as hard using the power of his arm to throw the hollow onto it's back. Then he leaped into the air and landed on the hollow's face. He started to pummel it's mask. Cracks spread out from where Chad's fist met the mask over and over again.

Ichigo winced sympathetically. He had been Chad's practice dummy by the order of the purple haired demon. Chad couldn't really hurt him as long as he hardened his reiatsu into a shell around his body, but even practice punches hurt after awhile.

Finally the mask shattered and the hollow let out a last scream and dissolved sending Chad falling. Chad stood from his hands and knees in the street.

Ichigo jumped down from the roof and walked up next to him.

"I keep telling you that your other arm is better suited for attacking," He said quietly, but his heart wasn't in it. He had had this argument with Chad before. The big guy just wasn't ready to unleash his more dangerous side.

Chad nodded numbly obviously not up for an argument either and strode off to continue the patrol.

Ichigo followed behind pulling out his denreishiki to see if there were any hollows in the area. He stopped surprised to see a message in his inbox. He opened it up to see the short message "see you soon". Ichigo scratched his head Who the hell would send him that? Surely not Aizen, and Urahara had more creative ways to get in touch with him when needed. The sender was a string of nonsensical numbers that Ichigo couldn't make heads or tails of.

Chad had stopped walking and was patiently waiting for him. "Something wrong?" He asked.

"Not really, just ominous," Ichigo replied putting the denreidhiki back into his haori. "Let's go. Nothing's on the radar, but Kon had the body tonight, and I have nothing better to do. You have something you got to do?"

Chad shook his head. "Practice later, but right now it is a nice night out."

"Yes, it is a nice night out isn't it, Shinigami?" A third voice cut through the night air.

Ichigo stretched an imaginary kink out of his neck and turned around to face Ishida.

_Let's see, _he thought to himself. Even his inner voice sounded annoyed. _He is using a street light as a spot light, wearing a homemade Quincy cosplay costume with stupid cape, and has a smug superior look on his face. Fuck me, not this again._

"Wouldn't you say that it is a nice night for a bit of competition?" Ishida continued in a cold voice. He pulled a tiny pill out of his pocket. and held it up for the other two to see.

Chad stared at the pill blankly, but took up a defensive stance anyway with his white arm forward ready to take a blow. He couldn't help but be bemused by the fact that more than one of his classmates had "special gifts."

Ichigo's eye twitched. Of all the stupid stunts he remembered Ishida pulling the hollow bait fiasco was the one that Ichigo had never really forgiven him for. Forget that the two of them had put aside their differences to take out that Menos Grande. Ichigo was still pissed off that Ishida would endanger innocent lives for the sake of his pride.

"Ishida," Ichigo yelled. "If you even dare break open that pill I am going to spank you!"

Both Ishida and Chad pulled up short for a second, neither sure if Ichigo was serious or if he had lost his mind. Chad even dropped his defensive stance, he was so surprised.

After an awkward beat Ishida took a deep breath and drew himself up to seem taller. "The rules are simple, even you should be able to follow them. The one who kills the most hollows wins."

"Last warning," Ichigo said reaching for Zangetsu. His blood was boiling.

Shiro grinned maniacally up as Ichigo's plan filtered though his consciousness. He started to chant. Ichigo's eyes turned gold.

_Try to keep it at a level that wont affect the physical world, _Ichigo told his hollow, even though restraint was a dirty word to Shiro. As Ishida's fingers tightened breaking the pill open Ichigo ripped Zangetsu from its sheathes and crossed the blades parallel to the ground.

"Chad?"

Chad saw Ichigo's new stance and heard the barely controlled rage in his voice. He nodded to show that he was listening. Whatever Ishida had done had set his friend off.

"You may want to back up, a lot," Ichigo said.

Chad opened his mouth to protest when over a dozen hollow howls pierced the night. He turned in a full circle. Those howls were coming from all sides and their position was out in the open.

"They will all come right here to that bait. They can't resist it. I can take care of it, but I can't control this skill all that well. I don't want to hurt you too," Ichigo said glancing at Ishida. Ishida's lip had curled during his speech. He knew the Quincy wouldn't move if he told him too. Oh well, he would do his best to wrap the other in his reiatsu and have Urahara patch him up later. The idiot had already drawn his bow and stood waiting.

Ichigo didn't have time to see if Chad had listened to him. The first wave of hollows had appeared, and Chad who was standing further from Ishida than Ichigo was swept away in the tide. Ishida had begun to fire off arrows in rapid succession killing hollows left and right, but there were too many of them for his efforts to be of any significance. Ichigo waited as long as he could for as many of the hollows as possible to get within the area of his kidou. He stepped behind Ishida both to use the other boy's arrows as cover and to get as close to the other as he could. He stepped behind Ishida close enough for his shoulder to brush the other's back.

The hollow howls were constant at this point. It was more like standing in a wind tunnel than an animal's roar.

Ishida scowled over his shoulder and muttered something about cowardly Shinigami.

Zangetsu hummed in Ichigo's hand ready to attack. Ichigo scanned the area for Chad quickly but didn't see him in the mass of hollows surrounding them. Ichigo hoped that Chad had listened to him and gotten away. He almost choked when he reached for the kidou that Shiro had chosen. He decided to forgo the incantation himself so that perhaps the city would survive.

"Zangetsu: Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho!"

Like all the hadou Ichigo used with his zanpakutou it centered itself around the blade. Zangetsu began to glow a blinding blue-white. Even the hollows that were under the effects of the bait slowed their frenzy as if they sensed death coming. The glow expanded to cover a four block radius, and the ear splitting thunder of the hadou rendered Ichigo deaf.

When the lights cleared from his eyes Ichigo's ears were ringing, but he was glad to see, around dots of after image, that the buildings were still standing untouched. The street was empty. It was almost as if it were just a normal night in Karakura. The hollows were vaporized.

Ishida was thankfully still alive if frazzled. His hair stood strait up due to static discharge, and his glasses were cracked. Ichigo scanned frantically for Chad. Ishida's dazed state was not giving him high hopes for Chad's well being. "Chad?" He called. "Chad you okay?" His heart started racing. What if he had accidentally killed Chad?

"Yo!" The tension drained from Ichigo's body as he heard Chad answer. Chad stumbled out from behind one of the buildings. He was wild eyed and his hair stood up, and his clothes were singed and smoking. He shook himself and patted the corner of the building that had probably saved his life and promptly sat down on the curb. He did not feel like moving very far, even walking over to where Ichigo and Ishida were seemed like too much effort.

Ichigo rubbed his eyes and turned back to Ishida only to get a fist to the jaw; it hurt. Ichigo snapped. He drew Zangetsu from his back, flipped it to the broad side, grabbed Ishida by the collar, turned him around and started paddling his ass.

"You little ass," Ichigo screamed as he whipped Ishida. "Someone could get hurt with you pulling stunts like that!"

_Ichigo, _Shiro said trying to break though Ichigo's rage. _That's not how ya uses a sword._

Ichigo ignored his inner hollow. He had never really felt the new age difference between himself and his friends so keenly before. In the past it had seemed that Ishida had been the most mature out of all of them. Now he was rendered speechless by his friend's thoughtlessness and selfishness. Both of which he had ignored before.

_I'm not an over-sized paddle, ya dumb ass! _Shiro screamed loosing patience with Ichigo.

Ichigo let go if Ishida his rage fading when he realized that he was acting a little too much like Shiro. Now that the haze of anger was gone he noticed that Chad had hobbled over probably to stop him. Ishida was rubbing his backside and glaring murderously at him.

Ichigo sheathed Shiro, who was still grumbling that he could have at least used the sharp edge, and took a deep calming breath. "Sorry I lost it there for a second."

Chad nodded. He understood the anger if not the method.

Ichigo pointed at Ishida. "We need to talk."

"I'm not going to talk to a Shinigami," Ishida said a touch petulantly. He was mad that his plan had gone so awry. He had not expected the Shinigami that had shown up in his class to be so powerful, none of the others from his last school had been.

"Yes you are," Ichigo growled at him.

Ishida opened his mouth to vehemently respond when he was silenced by a woman's scream.

_That's Orihime, _Ichigo thought. He jumped into action leaving both of the other boys staring at his after image. He cursed when he saw the black rift in the sky. He had been so upset that he had completely forgotten the Menos Grande that had attacked last time Ishida had used the hollow bait. But this time Oihime was the one in danger. He rounded a corner to see Tatsuki and Orihime on a bridge. Tatsuki was crouched low in a karate stance between Orihime and the rift as the Meno Grande shoved its long needle like nose though it. He face was pale by determined.

Orihime was on the ground behind her. She clapped her hands to her ears as the Menos howled, and Tatsuki struggled against the weight of the reiatsu pouring off the Menos. It was crushing them. Then the Menos opened its mouth and a red ball of energy began to form. Ichigo dived between the cero and the two girls tensed to take the brunt of the attack. What he did not expect was the three sided golden shield that formed between him and the blast. The shield absorbed the cero completely.

Happiness bubbled up inside Ichigo. Orihime had managed to manifest Shun Shun Rikka on her own. He turned to congratulate Orihime for forming the shield and reality washed over him. She was curled up on the ground and clutching her barrettes eyes screwed shut as if to block out the world. Another cero hit the shield, but it didn't budge. Orihime heard it hit and opened her eyes. She pointed over Ichigo's shoulder jabbing frantically at the air unable to form words.

Ichigo turned to see that the Menos Grande had fulling stepped into Karakura. Its presence, as tall as a skyscraper blocked out the stars and the moon. Tatsuki lost her nerve for a second and then drew herself up ready for a fight. Ichigo didn't know what she thought she was going to do but he decided to end this now before either girl got hurt. He leaped up and split the Menos from top to bottom with Zangetsu. When he landed reishii from the slain hollow sparkling his friends ringed around dhim loosely. Chad and Ishida had finally caught up both leaning heavily on each other. All of them looked varying shades of impressed. Ishida cringed when Ichigo shot him a look that said 'see what I mean."

"That was amazing," Tatsuki said, the first to recover. "How did you do that? Are you human? You're dressed funny. I'm pretty sure I could have taken him on my own, you know."

Ichigo backed away from her as the unfiltered stream of conscious words hit him.

Tatsuki stared him down obviously expecting answers. After a short staring contest she huffed and reached down to help Orihime up.

Ichigo blushed. Chivalry wasn't one of his strong suits.

"Thank you for saving us, Kurosaki-kun," Orihime said bowing after she had stood and dusted off her skirt tot he best of her abilities.

"I'm pretty sure it was your shield thingy that saved us all, Hime-chan," Tatuski grumbled.

Ichigo scratched the back of his head uncomfortably ready to wave off Orihime's praise. Even if he could have done without the shield, what Tatsuki said was true.

"Just say you're welcome," Tatsuki snapped.

"You're Welcome," Ichigo parroted. He was actually glad that Tatsuki was willing to give him step by step instructions.

"Where did that thing come from?" Orihime asked.

Ishida winced. "That would be my fault," He said before he could think it through fully.

Tatsuki zeroed in on him with a heated glare that actually started to make him sweat. He was really over heated all of a sudden.

"Your fault?" Orihime asked staring up at him with her big brown eyes.

Ishida swallowed his face heating up for a whole new reason. "I didn't mean to call a Menos Grande, just the low level hollows-" He cut himself off before he started rambling, and the heat kicked up a notch. "I'm so sorry," He said bowing to both Orihime and Tatsuki.

"Idiot boys," Tatsuki said. "And I could have fought it," She added without a hint of irony, rounding on Ichigo.

Ichigo put his hands on her shoulders. "No one else here could have taken that thing on alone," He said. His fingers started itching like they had a sunburn. "Regular humans, no matter how strong can't at all."

Tatsuki growled at him. "I'm not a regular human anymore."

"What?" Ichigo asked surprised.

Instead of answering in words Tatsuki threw a punch at him that stopped short of hitting him in between the eyes. The fireball she generated though, hit him square in the face and singed his eyebrows.

Ichigo waved away the smoke and smell of burning hair just as surprised as Chad and Ishida. "Well that's new."


	26. Chapter 26

1

Ichigo squared his shoulders and knocked on Urahara's door. Urahara was not going to like this at all. All of them- Tatsuki, Chad Orihime, and Ishida after some convincing by Ichigo- were arranged behind him in varying stages of anticipation and annoyance. Tessai opened the door and blocked the flood of light from the interior. He took one look at the group and adjusted his glasses in such a way that Ichigo felt that the older man was laughing at him before ushering the them in.

Inside Urahara and Yoruichi wer nuring sake cups at the table. Both rather unsteadily looked up as Ichigo lead hid friends into the room. Yoruichi twitched, then covered her mouth with her hand and commenced rolling around on the floor laughing. Urahra pulled his hat low to hide the sudden tick that had started in his right eye. He had known that this would happen eventually. He had just hoped that Aizen would make his move before it got too bad. Everything was set up perfectly, but if the infernal man waited for much longer the Gotei Thirteen would be all over Urahara for harboring an army of fulbringers.

"What have you done now, Ichigo-kun?" Urahara asked exasperatedly.

"It's his fault," Ichigo immedeatly put the blame on Ishida, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder at the Quincy.

"Hey!" Ishida yelled stepping forward ready to attack Ichigo.

Yoruichi, who had calmed down enough to have made it back up onto her knees doubled over clutching at her sides. "Stop," She gasped between giggles. Her face was turning red. "Stop, your're killin' me."

Urahara ignored his friend in favor of studying each of the teens carefully. Most of them he remembered from Ichigo's description of the friends who had fought at his side, but the short haired girl was unfamiliar to him. Ichigo and Chad seemed mostly unfazed by his stare. Ishida looked like he didn't want to be here and was wondering why he had come at all. The tall girl with the nice rack cringed when he zeroed in on her, and the spunky one just stared right back.

Urahara pulled his paper fan out of his haori and opened in front of his mouth. It was time to sober Yoruichi up. "You know what this means, Yoruichi-san?

Yoruichi stopped laughing and popped up strait all humor gone. "What?" She asked suspiciously sensing that her work load had just gotten bigger.

"It means that you have three new students," Urahara said excitedly waving his fan over his head and smiling widely.

"Why the fuck-" Urahara quickly snapped his fan shut and placed it over Yoruichi's lips to keep her from continuing.

"Shhh, impressionable young minds," He said in a stage whisper nodding in the teens' direction.

Ishida snorted. "I am no student of a Shinigami," He declared and turned smartly to walk out the door. He had seriously let his curiosity get the better of him on this one. These people were crazy.

Ichigo grabbed him by the back of his shirt. "Hey, I told you there was someone that you had to meet. You agreed to come."

"Haven't I met them already?" Ishida said gesturing at Urahara and Yoruichi. "This is a waste of my time, Shinigami. As long as you are not planning to run experiments on our classmates I am leaving."

"No," Ichigo said. "You have not met the person I want you to yet. We are here for the others not you. Think of someone else for a change," Ichigo snapped. He turned back to Urahara while keeping a tight grip on Ishida's shirt. "Does this mean that you are willing to help my friends to train their powers?"

Urahara fanned himself lightly while he thought of what to say. "You are putting me in a tight spot Kurosaki-kun," He said finally.

"I know," Ichigo said quietly. "But I can't just leave them to figure this out on their own," He finished more confidently.

"It's going to be a lot of extra work..."

"For me," Yoruichi finished in a grumble. She slapped her thighs. "Well let's go see what you got," She said herding the group toward the entrance to the training ground.

"That's it?" Ichigo asked bewildered. He had thought that he would have to argue his point for another twenty minutes at least. Even Urahara looked put out that his game was interrupted by Yoruichi's straightforwardness.

Yoruichi stuck her head back out of the trap door. "You two can continue arguing if you want. The rest of us are going to skip to the getting stuff done part. Come on kids. Careful it's a long way down." She started down the ladder; Chad, Orihime, and Tatsuki followed her. All the while they kept throwing looks at Ichigo. He tried to look encouraging, but was crossing his fingers behind his back and hoping the purple-haired cat wasn't going to scar his friends for life.

Chad gave him a thumbs up before he too disappeared into the black hole. Ichigo felt a bit better that he was there to look after the girls.

Urahara watched them descend into the training ground with a pout. "She likes ruining my fun." He looked up at Ichigo with an eerie smile. "As for you," He whipped out a small dull metal cuff and slapped it around Ichigo's wrist before the boy could react.

"What the fuck!" Ichigo immediately grabbed the cuff and tried to pry it off.

Ishida jumped toward the door and materialized his bow the arrow pointed strait at Urahara.

"Don't bother. It's keyed to only open with my reiatsu signature," Urahara said calmly. "Please put the arrow away, Ishida-san," He asked politely but with an edge to the words. Ishida slowly let his bow dissipate, but remained alert. He did not trust this man.

Ichigo grunted and tried harder to get the cuff off. He did not like the sound of that. "But what does it do?" He asked prying at the edge.

"It prevents your reiatsu from affecting others without you directing it to. It's only a buffer." Urahara smiled brightly. "I have been working on it as a possible replacement for the seal placed on Taichou when they come to the Living World. The Visored use similar items, in fact."

"Oh..." Ichigo guessed that that was a good thing. "So no one else will develope the ability to see spirits because of me?" He looked at the cuff more closely. It looked like a cheap piece of jewelry you would buy at the mall.

Urahara sighed dramatically. "We shall see. For a normal Taichou I would say definitely yes. For you? Maybe."

"Umm, thank you?" Ichigo said confused. He was still fingering the cuff. It was going to take some getting used to to wear.

"You are welcome, though this was a selfish act as well."

Ichigo grunted in response. Giving him jewelry was a selfish act?

"I am not completely off the radar of the Gotei Thriteen," Urahara whispered int Ichigo's ear. "THe Sou-Taichou may choose to no longer overlook my humble business here in Karakura if you accidentally create an army."

Ichigo winced. Urahara did not need to get that close. "You aren't?" _Come to think of it, wasn't part of his briefing about coming to the Urahara Shoten if I ever needed help?_

_Don't know, I was asleep,_ Shiro replied.

There was an embarrassed silence from Ossan.

"Sorry," Ichigo said.

Urahara nodded in acknowledgement.

"Come on Ishida. You still got someone you have to meet," Ichigo said to the Quincy as he walked tot he door.

Ishida snorted. "You are so rude," He said to the other teen.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes but swallowed his retort. "I'll be back later to help Yoruichi... make sure she knows that." He called back to Urahara instead.

Urahara spread his fan in front of his face mysteriously. The gesture made Ichigo want to groan. He gave it a fifty/fifty chance that Yoruichi would think he had abandoned her to do all the work by herself. He was so dead.

2

Ishida took one look at the Kurosaki Clinic and turned on his heel. Ichigo grabbed his arm and turned him back around.

"Problem?" Ichigo asked raising his eyebrows.

"You dragged me across town to show me an emergency clinic? What are we doing here? Waiting for someone to die?" Ishida asked offended.

Ichigo laughed, "Recognize the name?"

Ishida furrowed his brow. Of course he knew the name. Did Kurosaki...

"This is my home," Ichigo said when he saw that Ishida had connected the name to him.

Ishida reached u under his classes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You wouldn't have happened to have stolen the name, would you?"

"No, I was born with it," Ichigo answered innocently.

"Shinigami live in the Soul Society," Ishida stated.

"Well yes. I suppose it could be said that I live in the Soul Society." Ichigo fiddled once again with the cuff Urahara had slapped onto his wrist. The admission bothered him more than he wanted to admit. "This is where my family lives, my living family."

Ishida took a second look at the small clinic. Did Shinigami really let their soldiers come and visit their living families so soon after death? How long had Ichigo been dead anyway. A moment ago Ishida would have said decades, unless the clinic was run by a nephew or something.

"You want me to meet your family?" He asked disbelievingly. If this Shinigami was trying to make himself seem more human Ishida was going to shove a reishi arrow up his ass. Ishida did not under any circumstances want to sympathize with the ones who had killed his grandfather.

"Mostly just my mom. You would probably hate my dad in an instant," Ichigo said with a shrug.

"Your mom?" Ishida's voice dripped venom. "I knew this was a bad idea," he added for his own benefit.

"Then why did you come?" Ichigo asked curiously. Ishida was acting wired, he wasn't as confident as he usually was. Every time he was on the cusp of storming off something held him back. Ichigo was under no illusion that he could have stopped Ishida so easily otherwise.

Ishida grunted. He didn't want to admit weakness to a Shinigami.

"Is it because of what I said before?" Ichigo asked quietly.

Ishida stiffened. "Your words may have gotten to me," He admitted grudgingly. "And tonight I almost killed Arisawa-san and Inue-san. Worst of all you were the one to play the hero."

Ichigo smiled sheepishly. "It's a bad habit of mine."

Ishida snorted.

"No really. When someone is in danger I jump in without thinking. I don't really have to think." Ichigo shook his head trying to shake off the melancholia. "Come on, let's go in. I don't want to get in trouble for bringing you home too late."

Ishida looked at Ichigo askance. "Trouble?" He followed Ichigo up to the door. "Don't you need a gigai first?" He shut up when he saw Ichigo pull a key from his haori and stick it into the lock.

They entered the house. Isshin and Masaki, both sitting on the couch watching tv, turned around to greet Ichigo.

"Two friends!" Isshin said excitedly clapping his hands when he saw Ishida.

Ichigo slapped his forehead with his hand. "Ow."

"You were right. I hate him already," Ishida mumbled at Ichigo's shoulder. "And just to be clear, I'm not your friend."

Ichigo snickered. His eyes scanned the room automatically, and he was surprised to see Kon already home from where ever he had run off to for the day. The konpaku was sitting at the kitchen table in Ichigo's body teaching piker to Yuzu and Karin. Ichigo felt a sudden stab of jealousy. Kon seemed to fit in with the peaceful family scene better than Ichigo ever could. The fingers of his right hand began to pick a the the edge of the cuff again.

"Hey sweety, you're home already?" Masaki go up from the couch and gave him a hug startling him out of his thoughts.

Ishida though was surprised that everyone in the house seemed to be able to see Ichigo. The carbon copy of the Shinigami kept shooting them furtive glances over his hand of cards. The dark haird girl nodded at Ichigo and went back to studying her cards, while the other girl gave up all pretense of playing the game and waved her cards wildly at them.

"Hi Onii-san, Hi Onii-san's friend."

_Mmmm... a strait._ Ishida couldn't help but think as he caught flashes of her hand. Evidently the Ichigo copy had too because he threw his cards down on the table with a long suffering sigh.

"And who is your friend?" Masaki asked nudging Ichigo.

"Oh, this is Ishida Uuryu, a classmate of mine and a Quincy," Ichigo answered.

Ishida jolted to attention at those words To have it stated so blatantly... Ishida was very proud of his heritage, but one just did not tell normal humans that they were hunters of evil spirits.

"Ishida?" Masaki asked putting her finger on her chin. She looked slyly at Ishida making him start to sweat. "Ryuuken's son?"

Ishida cringed. "Yes," He said weakly. Solid ground had turned to quick sand very fast.

"Isshin! It's Ryuuken's boy!" Masaki said excitedly spontaneously giving Ishida a hug. Ishida resisted the urge to claw his way out of her arms.

Isshin gave Masaki a thumbs up in response. "About time one of you dropped by. You would think we were never friends since he only yells at me over the phone during business calls."

"Yelling doesn't sound like my dad, at all," Ishida pointed out still trying to discretely pry himself away from Masaki.

"It's a gift I have," Isshin said with a winning smile.

Ishida rolled his eyes. "How exactly do you know my father?"

Masaki finally let him go and smiled brightly. "I lived with your father and his family while I was in high school. Ryuuken and I were to get married. You know the whole Echt Quincy thing," She said sheepishly. "I thought it was very old fashioned, but your grandparents were insistent on it for some time. It's just weird to think I was going to marry my cousin, distant cousin thankfully but still..."

Ishida gaped.

"By the way, since we are technically familyyou can call me Oba-san."

Ishida took a quick step back toward the door. Masaki grabbed his arm and dragged him farther into the living room.

"How is Ryuuken doing anyway? He has been avoiding me for a long time now." Masaki smiled winsomely. "Maybe I should hold you hostage until he agrees to come over for dinner."

She sat Ishida down on the couch between her and Isshin. Ishida sought out Ichigo, who had been inching his way into the kitchen away from his over excited parents. Ishida glared at him, and the Shinigami had the gall to shrug and turn back to his conversation with his double.

For himself, Ichigo was glad that his parents didn't need him for this part. It was getting exhausting for him to re-explain his circumstances to each and every one of his friends. If he eer had to time travel again he was changing his name and moving to Osaka, screw this shit.

"Corrupting the youth now?" Ichigo asked Kon making sure to smile so that Kon knew that he was not being serious. He was trying to be nice, really.

Kon snorted and delt out a new hand to himself and the twins. "I'm not nearly as good at it as you"

Ichigo sat down in a free chair. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked keeping his voice calm. Whatever had been bothering Kon wasn't a reason for him to start yelling at him, again.

"Everyone you bring home looks like you slapped them with a squid," Kon mumbled staring hard at his cards. He tapped his foot against the table leg and kept shooting sideways glances at Ichigo.

Ichigo frowned at the behavior. Why would Kon be nervous around him? The shared a room and a body. But he did glance over at Ishida sitting rigidly between his over enthusiastic parents. He did seem bewildered by what was happening, and he at least already knew about ghosts, hollows and Shinigami.

"I guess it's just a hazard of knowing me... and possibly meeting my parents," Ichigo added as Isshin told Ishida that he had once been a Shinigami.

Kon nodded sagely. The light banter had calmed him down as Ichigo had intended. "You should come with a warning lable. But poker is both safe and teaches important life skills."

Kon grinned uncertainly taking pitting on Ichigo. The boy really was trying to be friendly, and letting Kon live with him and his family was the best possible outcome he had not even dared to think of. It wasn't Ichigo's fault that Kon basically was stuck in the house most of the time and only had use of Ichigo's body as a loan. He was just an artificial soul after all. He should be lucky that he was allowed to exist. He slapped down the cards he wanted to trade a little harder than necessary. Yuzu flinched at the noise.

"Oh, what skills would those be?" Ichigo asked lightly ignoring Kons burst of temper.

"It teaches us how to tell if someone is lying," Yuzu was the one who answered. She didn't like it when Kon and Ichigo fought, so she got very good at breaking them up. Neither of them like to yell around her or Karin. She glanced over at her sister, who was staring down her cards like a wild animal. It was too bad that Karin had decided that ignoring the problem would make it go away.

"It's called bluffing, not lying," Karin corrected from behind her cards.

"It's still lying," Yuzu insisted.

Karin rolled her eyes and tossed down her discards. "You going to join us?" She asked Ichigo.

Kon stiffened in his chair. "I guess you will want your body back then?" He said almost accusingly.

For a split second Ichigo didn't know how to answer the question. He should want his body back. Having it walking and talking without him in it had always creeped him out before. He should want it back even if it obviously distressed Kon. But it had been feeling a bit cramped lately, and there was the whole thing where he was a true Shinigami now. He picked again at the cuff.

"No, you keep it for awhile longer," He whispered a bit defeated. It sounded to himself like he was making a decision that he was not truly ready to make.

Kon glanced at Ichigo. The hopeful look on his face was a good thing. The suspicion clouding it bad. "Okay. Any reason for the sudden generosity?"

Ichigo shrugged uncomfortably, and decided to go with part of the truth. "You have it for the whole night remember?I'm going back to Urahara's anyway. I kind of dumped a little problem into his lap, and he had to go and dump it into Yoruichi's lap as revenge. I need to get back soon before she decides I'm slacking off."

Kon chuckled at the worry that crept into Ichigo's voice. He spread his hand out on the table-two pairs, jacks and threes.

"Hmm, I don't have anything," Yuzu said showing her hand of mismatched cards. She smiled at Karin.

Karin carefully put her hand on the table- four queens- and smiled smugly. "I win."

Kon groaned. "Do they already know how to play? Am I being manipulated?" He asked Ichigo. "I feel like they are teaming up against me. I haven't won once."

"No, they didn't know how to play," Ichigo shrugged unsurprised. "It's a twin thing. They could have been doing it on purpose, but I don't think they are. You get used to it. Just assume that you are always outnumbered."

"Always?" Kon asked skeptically.

"Always," Ichigo repeated pointing at the twins.

Both girls grinned at them sweetly.

Kon shifted uncomfortably. "I see." He would swear later that both girls eye's started to sparkle.

"Anyway I just wanted to drag Ishida to meet mom. I didn't even expect you to be here. You usually don't come home until very late when you get the chance to go out. Didn't you have plans?" Ichigo asked actually curious as to where Kon went while he was on patrol.

Kon froze momentarily before asking, "Promise you wont get mad?"

"Umm... I promise?" This did not bode well. Ichigo prepared to sit on his temper.

"I went to an early concert with my friends at a maid cafe," Kon sighed happily at a memory. "They arn't famous or anything, but they are so darn cute."

Ichigo tried to hide his surprise. Not that Kon would go to a maid cafe. Ichigo was surprised that Kon actually had friends. He knew the konpaku did not get out much.

"That's nice," He choked out. "Umm, why did you come home?"

"They have a test tomorrow," Kon said.

"Did you want to use the body tomorrow to go to school too?"

Kon shook his head. "School is boring. Urahara made sure that I already knew all that stuff. Besides it would look weird if you enrolled in two different schools. I figured that it would be best if I stayed away from anyone who could easily recognize you."

"Cool," Ichigo said at a loss for words. "Well if you need the body for anything, just ask."

"Uh- sure?" Kon said perplexed by Ichigo's non combative response. They should theoretically be yelling and throwing punches by now.

Ichigo wasn't paying any attention to the internal struggle he was causing Kon. Isshin was currently patting Ishida's head and mussing up his perfect hair. Ishida looked like a cat being petted the wrong way.

"Kami-sama, why do I always forget that my dad does not know how to act around civilized people." He turned back to Kon. "I gotta go save him."

"By all means," Karin said gesturing grandly at the tableau of Masaki leaning across Ishida to pull her overly affectionate husband off of the stoic young man. Ishida resembled a terrified piece of baloney in a Kurosaki sandwich. Ichigo rubbed his mouth to keep from smiling as he waved at his sisters and Kon over his shoulder. "You guys have fun."

"Tou-san," He barked. "Stop harassing my friends.

Isshin teared up. "But I'm not harassing him, I'm connecting with him. This is a family reunion of sorts." Ishida cringed at the the words 'family reunion'. "Family is important," Isshin added holding up his index finger for emphasis.

Ichigo sighed and pulled back his fist to start one of the famous Kurosaki family brawls. At least Ishida could take the chance to run, but then he came to the realization that this wasn't the dad he always used to fight with. This Isshin wouldn't know that it was just play fighting to distract from the issue. He dropped his fist. Isshin raised an eyebrow curiously.

"You're right," Ichigo said surprising both himself and Isshin. Ichigo cocked his head to the side as a wicked idea floated across his mind. "Family is important. Maybe I should go to the Soul Society and find Kukaku-ba-san so that we can have a proper family reunion." Ichigo crossed his fingers and hoped Kukaku hadn't lost her mind recently and turned into a crazy person after his dad had left the Soul Society.

Isshin shrank back into the couch his face turning pale. "I'll be good."

Ichigo internally sighed in relief. Good. Isshin was afraid of Kukaku too.

Masaki giggled into her hand. "That would be fun. I have never met any of your family, sweetie." She patted Ishida on the back. "Don't worry my husband is just being overly friendly; he doesn't bite."

Ishida stiffened. "Yes, I can see that. I'm just not used to being touched," he emphasized hoping that Masaki would get the hint.

"Aw, poor boy," Masaki said. Hang around here a bit more and we will cure you of that."

Ishida stood abruptly. "It was nice meeting you both, but I should go." The usually cool young man bolted out the door all dignity forgotten.

"Maa, I guess we were a bit much for him," Masaki said to her husband.

"As you said, my love, we can fix him," Isshin said making a fist for emphasis.

"That's not what I said," Masaki answered frowning at Isshin.

Ichigo pinched the bridge of his nose. His parents really were made for each other. If Isshin had died Ichigo had no doubt that Masaki would hang an obscenely large poster of him on the living room wall. "I'm going to make sure you didn't break him." He said heading for the door.

"Good idea," Masaki called after him. "And remind him about coming over for dinner. I'm going to call Ryuuken right now to make plans."

"All I have is his work phone," Isshin said.

"If Ruuken hasn't changed, and he hasn't; he's at work," Masaki retorted.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and opened the door. He prepared to shunpo but pulled up short when he saw Ishida standing on the sidewalk.

"I expected you to be long gone," Ichigo said stepping up beside Ishida.

"Ishida pushed his glasses up. "You have a nice family," he said trying to not let jealousy color his voice. "But couldn't you have just told me that you were a Quincy."

"Would you have believed me?"

Ishida snorted, "I'm still trying to decide if I believe her," He admitted. "But why side with the Shinigami? Don't you know what they did to us?" He gestured emphatically at Ichigo's shihakushou.

"Because I am a Shinigami too," Ichigo said quietly. "I can not deny that. They aren't all evil, you know," He smiled. "You seem to like my dad well enough." Really, he could understand why Urahara did this all the time, it was fun. Ichigo mentally slapped himself. He needed better role models.

"That man is a Shinigami!" Ishida shrieked in shock.

"Not what you were expecting?" Ichigo grinned. "Well, he was a Shinigami. Like my mom he lost most of his reiatsu."

"How?"

"He saved my mom's life."

"Why?"

"She saved his life."

"And?"

"And they got married," Ichigo said scratching his head. What did Ishida want from him?

It was obvious that Ishida was going through an internal struggle. A Shinigami and a Quincy living together and having a family shattered his world view. Ishida was on the edge and Ichigo really didn't want to push, but he felt he had to. "You want revenge on the Shinigami."

Ishida glared at him suspiciously.

"If someone promised you that revenge for your grandfather's death, would you take it... even if it meant you would die?"

Ishida was not sure how to react to that question. Was this a threat? "You sound as if you already know the answer to that."

"I know the answer that ends up with you dead," Ichigo swallowed hard. "I'm not your enemy."

Ishida put it together. "Are you saying that you will kill me?"

"I'm saying that I already did," Ichigo hung his head. It still hurt. Even with Ishida alive right here right now, it hurt.

Ishida snorted. This Shinigami was crazier than his parents. "Goodbye."

Ichigo reached out and grabbed Ishida's arm. "Six years ago, my mom was dead, and then in a split second I was given a chance to save her and change that fate." Ichigo swallowed. "She isn't the only one I want to save." He searched Ishida's eyes hoping to see understanding.

"What if I already have made my decision?" Ishida asked archly. Revenge did sound good, even his life...

"Unmake it," Ichigo said harshly. He let Ishida go, and Ishida rubbed his arm. It would bruise. "And don't try to get out of coming to dinner. Mom is already calling Ryuuken." He walked up the steps to the front door.

"Damn it!" Ishida yelled from behind him.

Ichigo shut the door behind him with a sad smile on his face. Maybe he could still reach him.

"Weren't you going somewhere?" Yuzu said innocently when he leaned against the door.

"FUCK!"

Ichigo ripped open the door and shunpoed passed a very surprised Ishida on his way to Urahara's.


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: This chapter will be shorter than usual. Work kicked my ass this month, and the next part is Ryuuken and Uuryu visiting the Kurosaki's for a family reunion type dinner. I would rather take the time to work on that than push it out in four days and have it suck. Especially since Ryuuken is going to be hard to write so that he doesn't seem one-dimensional and boring. So sorry for the short chapter, but I will be making the next part worth the wait.

1

Ichigo landed at the base of the ladder to the training cavern sweating and out of breath. An apology was on his lips, and he was ready to grovel to keep Yoruichi from thinking up ways to torture him. He stopped short when Tatsuki rolled across the ground to fetch up against the wall next to him.

She looked very worse for the ware. There was a large scrape across her right knee from her roll, and her knuckles were obviously red and raw, not to mention singed.

Before Ichigo could say anything Tatsuki jumped up to her feet. "Let's go again," She called to Yoruichi, who stood with her hands on her hips and a disgruntled expression on her face.

Yoruichi brushed some invisible dirt off the sleeve Onmitsukidou uniform. "The twelfth time is not charmed. You need to train a lot longer before you can even think of beating someone on my level," She said. ""Besides, I still have to work with the other two on their abilities."

"Just done more," Tatsuki said clenching her fists. "I know I can land a punch this time." She muttered under her breath just loud enough for Ichigo to hear. "I'll show you how strong I really am."

With a bored look on her face Yoruichi motioned with her hand for Tatsuki to attack her.

Tatsuki sprang into action. She sprinted across the cavern and threw a punch while she was still some distance out of Yoruichi's reach, but a jet of flame continued from where her fist ended fully extended and closed the distance between the two.

Yoruichi dropped into a low crouch so that the red and yellow flames went over her head and dodged to the left to throw off Tatsuki's aim. Then she jigged to where she could swipe out her leg to trip Tatsuki.

Amazingly to Ichigo, Tatsuki jumped over the leg. Ichigo knew that Yoruichi was only moving at a small fraction of her normal speed, but she was still moving fast enough to be difficult for the eye to track if one was not used to high speed -shunpo- fights.

As the fight continued Ichigo edged his way around the perimeter to where Chad and Orihime were watching. Chad sat calmly with his hands dangling off his knees. He nodded to Ichigo as he walked up.

Orhime was watching the fight with wide eyes and gnawing on her knuckled in worry. She cringed with every exchange of blows, but still occasionally shouted encouragement to her friend.

"What is going on?" Ichigo asked. "Have they been fighting the entire time?"

Chad nodded in reply.

Orihime ripped her eyes away from the spar at the sound of Ichigo's voice. "Oh Kurosaki-kun. I didn't see you there." She bounced up from the ground. "Can you make them stop? Tatsuki-chan has been trying so hard. I think she might hurt herself if this continues."

Ichigo winced as Tatsuki took a full on punch to the ribs. He prayed that Yoruichi really had held back that time. "Yoruichi knows what she is doing," He said confidently. "She knows how hard to push someone."

Ichigo was trying to be reassuring. He knew that he wasn't very good at it, and Yoruichi herself wasn't helping by kicking Tatsuki in the head, but he hadn't expected Orihime to start crying either. She had been so sensitive when they had first met. He held up his hands in front of him palms out in defense of the tears.

"Tatsuki is in good hands," He amended in a rush.

"It's not that," Orihime said shaking her head. She wiped away her tears with her handkerchief. "Chad-kun wasn't worried about it either." She paused and took a deep breath. "It's just that everyone is so strong. I'm not. I mean, Tatsuki-chan has been teaching me self defense techniques, but I don't lime to fight. You say I have these great powers... which is cool by the way. I mean, if I can make objects float, shoot lasers out of my eyes or read people's minds, or go invisible, or fly that would be cool. But everyone else is all 'grrr, kill monster.' What if I don't want to kill monsters? I mean monsters are supposed to be bad, but not all of them are bad. Like that Franken-monster we read about in English class. He sounded sweet, and I don't want to hurt anyone, even monsters. Especially monsters that only want to be friends. But if they don't want to be friends I guess I could.. I mean if I have to..."

Ichigo put his hands on her shoulders. He hoped internally that i would shout her up. He remembered the Orihime from his past struggling to keep up with the rest of them even though she did not have the temperament. Then when she was kidnapped by Aizen she swore that she would work hard not to be a liability to him, but even then she could not make herself fight an enemy seriously.

"You don't have to fight if you don't want to," He said. "Your powers are flex-able enough that you can do so much more than just fighting."

"Really? Like what?" Orihime asked.

"Healing for one," Ichigo replied.

_Or replacing missing limbs and vital organs. You make it sound like she spends all her time fixing paper cuts. _Shiro commented dryly.

"I don't know about making things float, but Shun Shun Rikka can probably carry things for you, and create protective shields, and also watch over the rest of us." Ichigo said.

_Don't give the little demi-god any ideas. _Shiro said. _We aren't careful we could all be singing kumbaya around a cotton candy fire in Wonder Land. _

_Where the fuck do you come up with this shit? _Ichigo asked the zanpakutou.

Orihime was stopped from answering by the sound of Tatsuki being kicked into the ground by Yoruichi from a good two meters in the air.

"She will be alright?" She asked once again worried for her friend.

"Yeah?" Ichigo said unsure. That was a big dust cloud around Tatsuki. "You can practice your healing on her if you would like."

Orihime looked up at him with her big brown eyes. "Umm, how do you know I can heal?"

Ichigo grimaced. He had slipped up again. It really was easier to tell everyone that he was a time traveler.

"Can you see the future?" Orihime asked excitedly. "I was watching an anime once where the main character could see the future and was trying to stop a great tragedy from happening. She was cute, had a bow and everything." She mimed the shape of a large bow on top of her head.

Ichigo rubbed his face with his hand. He really missed the grown up Orihime. "I can't see the future," he said tiredly. "But I do know some things. Like, Shun Shun Rikka will tell you what you need to know if you ask them."

"Ask them?"

Ichigo reached out and tapped one of Orihime's hair pins.

"My hair pins?" She asked confused reaching up to grab the small flowers.

"You got them from your brother, right? It makes them important to you. Your power manifests through them. All you have to do is call on them to help you."

Orihime stared up at Ichigo in awe. How did he know all of this? She had put the hair pins on to honor the anniversary of her brother's death and kept wearing them when Chizuru and Tatsuki had told her that they were cute. And now Ichigo was saying that her hair pins could talk to her. She didn't know that Ichigo was as imaginative as she was. Neither Chad nor Tatsuki could actually speak with their powers. It sounded so silly but so cool at the same time. Orihime found herself wishing that what Ichigo was saying was true.

"It's true. You can hear us if you just listen," A tiny female voice whispered in her ear.

"Ahhh! Voices!"Orihime yelled knocking herself on the head a couple of times with her knuckled as if to knock the voices out of her head. "Get out, get out get out getout!"

Ichigo grabbed her wrist concerned for the girls sanity. "Don't be silly," He huffed exasperated by how young and silly Orihime was acting.

The hairpins started to glow and split into six points of light that darted around Orihime. "Wahhh, so pretty!" She exclaimed at the dancing lights.

One of the lights formed into a small woman in an over sized kimono. "If you wish to heal your friend Shun'o and I, Ayame, will help you," The fairy said gently. She and another male fairy with a top knot flew to hoover over Tatsuki. Orihime eagerly followed and a couple of minutes later the familiar two point golden shield formed over Tatsuki as Ichigo watched.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder. Yoruichi had rested her elbow on his shoulder and leaned her head on it. "Looks like I wont have Tatsuki use you for target practice after all," She murmured in his ear. "Good work."

"Would you not do that!" Ichigo yelled shaking her off and sticking his finger in his ear. He glared at Yoruichi?

"Oh come on. What are you, twelve?" Yoruichi asked. "Most men would have quite a different reaction to a beautiful woman hanging off of them." She winked at him.

"But I know you. If you weren't sure that it would bother me you wouldn't do it at all," Ichigo countered. He really didn't think of Yoruichi as someone he would date. She was pretty, but he still hadn't forgiven her for not telling him that she was a woman before crawling into a hot spring with him, naked. Screw the fact that she hadn't done it in this timeline. If she could, she would.

Yoruichi shrugged nonchalantly. "You got me there, but I bet a lot of girls think you are adorable when you blush. It might be a signal that a girl likes you. try a little harder to be 'friendly', if you know what I mean."

Ichigo tried to find something clever to say. He should have know Yoruichi would not be afraid to go there. _Owned. _Ichigo's eye twitched. That had been Ossan.

"Hey you, pony tail! I'm not done yet," Tatsuki said limping up to the pair, thankfully before the silence got awkward.

"Tatsuki-chan! I'm not done yet," Orihime yelled clenching her fists on her knees. He cheeks were red, and she actually looked frustrated with her friend.

"I'm fine," Tatsuki said giving Orihime a thumbs up. "All better."

She didn't look all better to Ichigo. Her right knee was obviously still bothering her, and she held herself very stiffly, clenching her teeth every time she shifted her weight.

"Actually, I think you are done for the day, perhaps the week," Yoruichi said eyeing Tatsuki up and down critically.

Tatsuki glared back.

"Don't push yourself so hard, train a bit more first before you take on a challenge like me," Yoruichi said a bit more gently. "It takes decades to get to my level."

Tatsuki fell to her knees with a groan. Orihime was instantly at her side, the two point shield of light formed over Tatsuki's banged up knee. "I'm not good at this yet. Give me time to fix you." Orihime said while staring at the shield.

"I'm one of the best fighters in my age group in Japan. I can fight in the next age group and get in the top ten as well. I can't believe that you are so much better than me," Tatsuki said curiously poking her finger through the shield. She felt nothing, but her knee tingled where the pain was. "How did you get so crazy strong?" She asked looking up at Yoruichi.

Yoruichi shook her head. "You have high goals, girly. I've been training for over a hundred years."

All of the humans in the room stared at her as if trying to find the wrinkles that would corroborate her words.

Yoruichi glared at them all, offended. "What? You didn't think that we were humans, did you?" She asked pointing to herself and Ichigo.

"Shinigami," Chad stated. "Spirits."

"Yup Shinigami, and an ex-Taichou at that." She grinned at Tatsuki. "You got a long way to go yet, girly."

"Fine. You have been alive for over a hundred years, but what about him?" Tatsuki said pointing at Ichigo. "He cut that walking skyscraper in half with one cut. I could barely stand when that thing appeared. Ichigo is the same age that I am. How do you explain that?"

"Ichigo is a freak," Yoruichi said falling into stride with one of her new favorite games, baiting Ichigo. She had decided from almost the moment that she had met him that he was the most fun when he was either annoyed or embarrassed.

"Hey!" Ichigo yelled.

"Death," Orihime said staring up into the darkness of the cavern. "Being a Shinigami means that you are dead, doesn't it? When did you die, Ichigo-kun?"

Tatsuki gasped. A look of horror descended on her face. "Oh Ichigo, I didn't know..."

Ichigo waved Tatsuki off. "It's not ..." Then it hit him. Did it count as death if you could go back? He could still use his body after all. Ichigo thought back to the moment he became a Shinigami. No one since then had ever given him the impression that he was dead. Sure there was that time Ulquiorra had ripped out his heart, but everyone told him and he had seen, when you died in the Soul Society you dissolved into reishi particles. He didn't think that counted. He scratched his head trying to remember a time when he had 'experienced' death. He had been hopping in and out of his body for so long that it was possible that he wouldn't have even noticed if he had died. "You know, I'm not sure if I have even died at all."

Yoruichi frowned. "Well your dad was born a Shinigami, he wasn't a human soul that died. Maybe that has something to do with it."

"You don't know?" Chad asked.

Yoruichi shrugged. "When I said he was a freak, I had real reasons."

Ichigo ignored the glances his friends were trying not to give him. He crossed his arms over his chest. The fast paced action of his first years as a Shinigami had prevented him from sitting down and thinking about it, but now it was bothering him. So many things that had added up shouldn't have. For the first time Ichigo wondered, _What the hell am I?_


	28. Chapter 28

Author's Note: I will be updating my other story "Forgotten Secrets of Soul Bonds" at the end of December. Second Chances will be updated again at the end of January.

1

Ichigo turned to Kon, the lion, who was sitting on the pillow of his bed flipping through a manga. "How does this look?" He asked warily. He already knew the answer. He had been trying for the past half hour to tie his tie correctly. It had looked easy when his father had shown him how. He had even succeeded a couple of times the night before while practicing, but now...

"The knot still looks like a turd," Kon said taking a quick look. "Points for getting the ends even though."

Ichigo sighed loudly and threw himself across the foot of the bed. He grabbed the tie and jerked it off his neck. "Why is this so hard? I was doing fine yesterday."

Kon heaved his own sigh and put his manga down. "Are you sure you subconsciously don't want to put off this dinner for as long as you can?"

"No, that's very conscious," Ichigo said. "Maybe it's because I now know how uncomfortable the damn thing is."

"Or it could just be that you have slept between now and yesterday. Can't expect everything to stick," Kon snarked.

Ichigo turned his head just enough to glare at the lion.

Kon didn't respond. Instead he levered himself up, walked down the length of the bed and grabbed the tie from Ichigo's hand. "Hold still," He said deftly wrapping the tie around Ichigo's neck, then he jumped up onto Ichigo's chest and pawed his way through tying a knot. "There," He said triumphantly. "Even stuffed paws can do better than you."

Ichigo scooped Kon up and tossed him on the bed. He then got up and went into the bathroom to check in the mirror. He smoothed down the blue striped tie. It looked good on his crisp, white shirt. He turned to Kon who had run after him and was leaning on the door frame to catch his breath.

"It looks great," Ichigo said. "How did you learn to do that?"

"I do dress up on occasion," Kon answered cryptically.

"Oh," Ichigo said wondering when Kon ever had the occasion to dress up.

"On dates you moron," Kon answered his unasked question.

Ichigo blinked. "Umm good for you," He pushed the bracelet Urahara had given him up under his sleeve so that it could not be seen and changed the subject. "Well anyway, mom wated dme to ask you if you wanted to come to dinner too."

"Nope, I'm out," Kon said definitively and turned on his heel tof walk back to Ichigo's room.

Ichigo followed slowly to keep pace. "You sure?"

"Yup. This smacks of boring responsibility and very uncomfortable small talk. I want to avoid that for as long as possible. Have fun," Kon said jumping back up onto the bed.

"You can come as a lion, you know. The Ishida's have seen weird things before."

"Meh," Kon answered as he situated himself on Ichigo's pillow and picked up his manga.

Ichigo shrugged. "Fine. Mom just wanted me to ask you. She considers you part of the family, you know."

Kon teared up for a second and quickly wiped his eyes dry on a plush arm. "Thanks, but no thanks. But next time there is a family game night, count me in."

Ichigo laughed. "You know mom is going to start forcing you into these things one day."

"But not today," Kon shouted thrusting his paw into the air. "Now if you'll excuse me, Ayumi-chan and I have other plans for the night." He held up his manga for emphasis.

"Perv," Ichigo said turning to leave. If he didn't get down there soon one of the twins was going to come looking for him. He stopped short at the door. "Wait. How does that even work?"

Kon just stared at him meaningfully.

"Gah! I feel so dirty." Ichigo burst out and kicked the door closed behind him.

"Hehehe, prude." Kon reached under the pillow and pulled out a small post it note from a stack. He stuck the blue note to the page. "For later," He said patting the page.

Ichigo stopped midway down the stairs to stare at his dad. Isshin had removed his own tie from around his neck and was trying to covertly stuff it into a decorative vase Masaki had bought for the house. Isshin saw Ichigo staring at him with his hand still in th vase. He silently raised his finger up to his lips and winked conspiratorially.

Ichigo shook his head and walked passed Isshin. "Just remember, when she finds out I know nothing," He whispered.

"No promises," Isshin sang throwing his arm around Ichigo's shoulders. He reached up and unbuttoned the top button on his white shirt and took a deep breath. "I never did like formal wear. Nice knot, by the way. It took me forever to get it right the first time.

"No one likes formal wear, and Kon did this," Ichigo said adjusting his tie and wondering if he could get away with shoving it into the vase. "He's surprisingly good at stuff like this."

"Yeah, you would think that. Normal is surprisingly hard for us Kurosakis to pull off," Isshin said. "Though it probably comes more from my family."

Ichigo grunted in agreement.

"What are you two up to?" Masaki teased as she stood up from straitening the bow on Karin's dress.

"Nothing at all," Isshin answered quickly.

Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"My don't you two look beautiful," Isshin went on hurriedly kneeling down to smile at the twins, and turning so Masaki couldn't see he wasn't wearing a tie.

Yuzu giggled and did a little twirl to show off her poofy, lavender dress complete with a ribbon sash and cap sleeves. Karin, in a matching dress, was considerably less impressed.

"Why can't I wear pants again?" She complained to her mom.

"Because you two look adorable in those dresses," Masaki gushed. "And I want our first impression as a family to Ryuuken to be a good one."

"Uuryu has probably told his dad that I'm evil," Ichigo pointed out.

"And the last time I had to call Ryuuken for work I yelled at him and called him a bastard," Isshin added.

Masaki sighed, and knelt down in front of the twins, and took one of their hands into each of her own. "Mama needs you."

Both girls nodded gravely in response. Ichigo and Isshin traded a sheepish look.

"But why haven't we ever had them over for dinner before?" Yuzu asked innocently.

Both Isshin and Masaki looked at each other.

"Sometimes people grow apart, sweetie," Masaki answered. "After Ryuuken went to do his residency in America, we just didn't have anything in common anymore." She stood.

"Oh," Yuzu said, then quickly changed the subject. "Didn't Kon want to come too?" She asked Ichigo.

Ichigo cleared his throat. "Uh, Kon doesn't feel comfortable coming down, and it's not like we have a spare gigai for him anyway."

"We would if Urahara weren't such a capitalist," Isshin grumbled. "100,000 yen for one night's rental." He squeezed his fists around thin air as if wringing someone's neck.

"Oh hun, look at it from his point of view. Urahara-san puts a lot of effort into his gigais, and Ichigo isn't the best with even his material body," Masaki said to soothe her husband.

"Hey!"

Masaki smirked at her son and tweaked his nose for good measure. "I have seen you hop out of your body and leave it lying face down in your rice."

Ichigo blushed. "I do have a job to do," He grumbled.

Just then the doorbell rang and the whole family lined up at the door; the twins in front and Isshin and Ichigo on either side of Masaki.

"Where is your tie?" Masaki suddenly asked Isshin in a hushed but stern voice.

"A hollow ate it," Isshin said and flung open the door to distract her.

For a split second there was silence. Uryuu had actually worn his Quincy uniform. Ichigo covered his mouth as he choked on a laugh. At least he had left off the cape. Uryuu's father, Ishida Ryuuken, was dressed more normally in a light blue suit and a tie with a Quincy cross on it. Both looked very uncomfortable in the present situation.

"Welcome," Isshin said boisterously, breaking the silence. "It's good to see you in person Ishida-sensei. And welcome back Uryuu," He winked at the younger man mostly to see him cringe. Isshin wasn't disappointed. Uryuu straitened up as if pinched and gripped the neck of the wine bottle he was holding a little tighter. But he did manage a polite nod at Isshin. "Let me introduce you. You know Masaki of course and this is our son Ichigo and the most darling twins in the whole world, Karin and Yuzu."

Bows were exchanged. "Thank you for inviting us,"Ryuuken said politely. "You have a lovely family. Please accept our gift."

Uryuu stepped forward to proffer the bottle.

"Cool," Isshin said with enthusiasm. He took the bottle in both hands; it looked expensive.

Masaki tried not to laugh at her husband's attempt to break the ice. She stepped forward and gave her cousin a hug. "Ryuuken stop being so formal. This is a family dinner."

"Yes of course," Ryuuken replied with a nod and not a trace of irony.

Masaki sighed and invited the two into the house. "You never change, do you?"

"Not really, no," Ryuuken replied looking around the living area.

The adults sat on the couch and the twins quickly took the single chair so that they could easily listen in and observe the action. Ichigo and Ishida exchanged glances and sat at the dining table.

"Why are there eight plates?" Uryuu whispered to Ichigo as they sat.

"The eight plate is for Chad, just in case he ever drops by for a meal. It's been there every night since he met my mom. She's under the impression he doesn't know how to feed himself."

Uryuu blinked. "We are talking about that brick wall that has been following you around, right? The one who punched through that brick wall to scare off a bunch of bullies?"

"Yeah," Ichigo answered awkwardly. For a second he didn't realize that Ishida wouldn't have had the chance to get to know Chad's gentle side.

"I get the feeling that your mom just feeds anything that crosses the threshold of this house," Ishida concluded. He pushed up his glasses.

"Well you're getting a free meal," Ichigo growled. "So I can't argue with that one. But talk to Chad first before you decide that he's a delinquent. Looks don't tell you everything." He crossed his arms. Had Ishida been this bad before, and Ichigo just missed it because he was admittedly being an ass himself?

Ishida glanced at Ichigo's hair for a split second before dropping his eyes to the empty plate in front of him. "I see that I've hit a nerve there. You are right, looks aren't everything."

They both tactfully started to pay attention to the adult's conversation.

"I have to ask," Ryuuken was saying. "Why invite us over now?"

"Hmmm, well Ichigo brought Uryuu-kun home with him the other night, and I thought that since they are friend's now it would be the perfect opportunity to bring our families together," Masaki explained. "I have missed my cousin, you know."

Ryuuken smiled slightly. "We have been distant too long haven't we?"

Masaki hit him lightly on the shoulder. "Still too formal."

"Yes Masaki-chan." Ryuuken said in a mock resigned voice.

Ichigo wished that he could have stayed up stairs with Kon. The konpaku had called this one; uncomfortable and boring. Now Ichigo was listening to awkward conversation and Kon was reading manga, lucky bastard.

"Ichigo, would you get the tea please?" Masaki called out knocking Ichigo out of his listless staring at the wall.

"Sure mom," Ichigo said standing from the table. At least it was something to do. This was way to weird for him; a quiet dinner with extended family. He almost wished Aizen would hurry up and attack just so he would have something to do.

Masaki had laid out the good tea set on a tray on the counter. Ichigo picked up the tray and carefully carried it to the living room table where Masaki could pour tea.

"So how are things at the hospital?" Isshin asked. "Did you ever fix that staffing problem?"

"Eventually,"Ryuuken answered taking the cup of tea Masaki handed him. "I must admit that I am enjoying the time that I have to spend on the floor though. So much of my duties of late have been administrative."Ryuuken sipped the tea and tilted his head so that the light glared off his glasses.

_So that's where mini-Quincy gets it,_ Shiro commented. There was the sound of some one sipping tea. Ichigo couldn't tell if it was Shiro or Ossan.

_I'm going insane, right? _Ichigo asked. The internal arguments with his zanpakutou had been becoming more and more frequent since coming to the past.

_You are merely more aware of us than you were in the past, _Ossan said in a way he probably thought was encouraging. _Now pay attention. _

Ichigo snapped back into the living room. His mother was holding out a pair of cups for Uryuu and himself. She was also looking at him strangely. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yes," Ichigo answered quickly grabbing the cups.

Isshin grinned at his son and mercifully brought the conversation back to it's original topic. "That's why I prefer my little clinic. It gives you more opportunity to connect with your patients."

"I am surprised to hear you say that. You never seemed to have the right temperament for a good bedside manner," Ryuuken said as he flashed a curious look at Ichigo.

"Neither do you," Isshin said pleasantly. "But I got the idea from you, you know."

Ryuuken stared at Isshin surprised by the admission.

"I can appreciate wanting to dedicate your life to helping the living. Masaki used to talk about it all the time," Isshin said grinning.

Ichigo tuned the adults out once more and sat back down at the table. He set one of the two cups in front of Uryuu.

"Well, this is fun," Uryuu commented grabbing the tea.

Ichigo shrugged. "This isn't so bad, and it's making mom happy. I think she missed your dad."

"That sounds so weird," Uryuu said sipping the tea.

Ichigo shrugged again. He really didn't understand what Uryuu meant. It all seemed perfectly normal to him. Before he could ask what Uryuu meant everyone else joined them at the table.

"Is yaki udon still your favorite?" Masaki asked Ryuuken as she set out the food.

Ryuuken nodded. "It has been awhile since I have had a chance to have any though," he said serving himself.

"You need to take more time off," Isshin said. "It's not good for your health to be a workaholic."

"Perhaps," Ryuuken said knowing he wouldn't be taking time off anytime soon. He exchanged a quick look with Ichigo, and Ichigo rolled his eyes. Yes, this was normal. A small smile tugged at the corner of Ryuuken's mouth for a split second. "So how did you two manage to find each other and become friends?" He asked Ichigo.

"We ended up in the same class. But we are more friendly rivals," Ichigo said after swallowing a bite of food. "Uryuu is one of the smartest in our class, so I always aim to beat him."

"Speak for yourself," Uryuu spoke up gesturing at Ichigo with his chopsticks. "I wouldn't call anything between us friendly. The fact that someone like you can out score me is baffling. With your attitude I don't know how you do it."

"Extra experience," Ichigo quipped just to see Uryuu's face scrunch up in annoyance.

"It is a good thing that you are aiming for the best. It says much of your future prospects," Ryuuken said. "You two could push each other far."

"My point is that we aren't friends," Ishida said gritting his teeth. Have you forgotten that he is a Shinigami?"

"Yes, I remember. Since I know Isshin, I am not surprised," Ryuuken answered calmly. "And you can be friends with a Shinigami," He glanced over at Isshin. "If you try really really hard. I have befriended a Shinigami," He said pointing at Isshin. "I'm sure you can find a way too."

"Awww, that's so sweet," Isshin said reaching out and touching the tip of Ryuuken's finger with his won from across the table.

Ryuuken snorted and giggles erupted around the table.

How can you say that when the Shinigami killed Grandpa?" Uryuu demanded jumping to his feet.

"Because they," Ryuuken replied gesturing at both Isshin and Ichigo, "Did not. The Kurosaki's are decent people." Ryuuken bowed his head to Masaki. I am sorry Masaki-chan. My son and I do not talk often, and this usually is the result."

"It's alright Ryuu-kun," Masaki said putting her hand on his arm. "I probably should have tried harder to be an influence in your lives. Uryuu and Ichigo could have grown up together. Your family did take me in after my own parents deaths after all."

Uryuu sat down heavily a bit ashamed of his words. "I am sorry for ruining dinner. I should not have yelled," He apologized looking down at the table.

"You call that yelling?" Isshin asked looking up from his bowl bewildered. He glanced at the twins next to him. Neither of them had even looked up from their dinners. They had decided that their new relatives weren't as interesting as they had first thought.

Masaki laughed, "He isn't used to your more excitable moments."

"Well then," Isshin boomed while cracking his knuckles. Both Ryuuken and Uryuu glanced at each other uneasily, then tried to catch Masaki's eye just in case she was giving them a subtle clue to run. "We should change that." Isshin slammed his hand down on the table making the dishes jump. "Allow me to regal you with an epic tale of one man's ongoing battle with the devil that is modern technology!" Isshin leaned down and poked Yuzu in the side causing her to laugh. "Papa was busy saving lives and doing the less fun but still important part of updating patient charts one calm and peaceful day when all of a sudden the evil update monster reared its head. The countdown to restart the computer was initiated, ready to destroy all of, papa's hard work."

Yuzu gasped, playing along with her father's drama. Karin rolled her eyes and grabbed more food.

"So as the count down started, Papa quickly jumped into action saving each of the files that he had been working on and beating his highest level on Bejeweled yet. All before the evil update monster shut everything down," Isshin grinned triumphantly.

Both twins applauded. The Ishida's looked horrified. Uryuu was pushing himself up against the back of his chair and was as stiff as a board. Ryuuken pinched the bridge of his nose. "Don't you save your work periodically so that you wont have to worry about that happening?"

"Eh?" Isshin remarked confused.

Both Masaki and Ichigo laughed out loud at Isshin's reaction. Ichigo went back to his food. The tension around the table had been broken, which had been the point of Isshin's little story. He glanced at Uryuu who was still staring at Isshin in fascination and disbelief. Ichigo had a new appreciation for his dad's antics now that he wasn't on the receiving end of the insanity. Seeing them for what they were made him even more appreciative of everything Isshin had done after Masaki's death to help his children move on. He glanced at his mom who was clapping her hands and congratulating Ryuuken on bursting her husband's bubble. He still liked things better this way, though.


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: Okay, it is time for me to be very disappointing. I wont be updating next month. The next couple of chapters, maybe 3, need to be drafted together so that everything will fit right. I might forget something otherwise. So the next time _Second Chances_ will be updated will be around March 30th.

1

Ichigo, in Shinigami form, sat at his desk putting the finishing touches on his English homework. It had to be perfect. Ishida was surprisingly good at English conversation. A loud sigh interrupted his thoughts.

"Do you mind?" He asked Kon who was utilizing his time with a human body moping around the bedroom.

"Nope," Kon answered throwing himself back on the bed with his legs thrown off the side. Even then he still smacked his head on the wall.

"Smooth," Ichigo commented not bothering to look up.

"Stop growing and it wouldn't be a problem," Kon snapped rubbing the sore spot on his head.

"What is your problem tonight?" Ichigo said raising his voice in annoyance. Kon's life was so mundane that Ichigo hated talking with him about it.

"There's nothing to do," Kon whined.

"What about your friends?" Ichigo asked rolling his eyes. "Can't you complain about not having anything to do with them?"

"They got grounded. Someone caught them cutting class to pick up some new video game," Kon pouted at the ceiling. "I feel like I'm being grounded too."

Ichigo rolled his eyes again. "Go play with Karin and Yuzu then."

"Tried. They are spending the night at a friend's house," Kon said dully.

"They are?" Ichigo tried to remember if he had heard them say anything about it. He hadn't really talked to the twins in days. "I guess I haven't been paying enough attention to them."

"No kidding," Kon threw over his shoulder as he surveyed the empty street. "You train every day. They complain about it a lot."

Ichigo stared at his desk. He felt a little ashamed for ignoring his family. "I've got obligations," He said more to himself than to Kon.

"Yeah? And how do you know that this Aizen guy will go through with his plan? You could be wrong." Kon frowned as a shadow moved on the roof across the street.

"You have got to stop listening in on my phone conversations," Ichigo huffed. "Aizen has been planning this for over a hundred years," He paused before admitting the truth, "Ask me again after November. My answer might change then."

"So you do have doubts," Kon said peering into the darkness. He could almost make something out. He would swear-

Something collided with the window.

"Ahh! It's pink!" Kon screamed falling of the bed.

Ichigo turned around at the loud thump and subsequent reaction from Kon. Yachiru had mushed her face up against the glass and was waving her arms wildly in the air over her head. He laughed.

Kon stared at Ichigo from the floor convinced the other had lost his mind. "What the fuck man?" He asked shrilly still unnerved by his near heart attack. He had literally felt his borrowed heart stop when that thing had hit the window.

Ichigo crossed the room and opened the window. Yachiru leaned in. Her head whipped back and forth between Ichigo and Kon at dizzying speed.

"It's just Yachiru," Ichigo explained to Kon. "Don't worry. You get used to being on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Eventually."

"Two Ichi-chans?" Yachiru asked the room at large. Her eyes shined with excitement, and she leaped at Kon wrapping herself around his torso.

Kon screamed like a little girl, "Get it off!"

"Coward," Ichigo murmured as he pried Yachiru off of Kon with some difficulty. And he almost dropped her on the floor when Hinamori popped into the room through the window. She landed lightly on the carpet in the middle of the room and looked around as if fascinated by being in a house.

"Hi Ichi- go?" Hinamori trailed off when she noticed that there were two of them.

"Twins!" Matsumoto yelled happily as she stuck her head through the window. Rukia's head appeared next to Matsumoto's and there was a small scuffle as both tried to climb though the window at the same time.

_What's going on? _Ichigo asked Zangetsu.

_Fuck if I know, _Shiro answered as baffled as Ichigo felt.

Ichigo shook his head. "What are you guys doing here? He asked out loud. "And stop snooping!"

Rukia looked up at him from where she was digging through his desk drawers and stuck her tongue out at him. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Didn't Ichi-chan get the text I sent?" Yachiru said tugging on Ichigo's hair.

"Yes," Ichigo said remembering the ambiguous text.

"Good, I was worried when you didn't reply," Yachiru said.

"Well, I didn't know it was you," Ichigo winced.

"You didn't?" Yachiru asked perplexed.

"You didn't say it was you," Ichigo huffed and grabbed Yachiru's hand before she could start pulling again.

"Oops," She replied.

Ichigo groaned. "Why are you here?" He repeated.

"The Shinigami Woman's Association offers its services to the Twelfth Division and investigates new human technology for potential study." Ichigo froze as Unohana-taichou stepped lightly through the window and landed in the middle of the room. She looked around curiously. "Hmm," was her only response when she saw Kon.

Ichigo started to sweat. He could get into a lot of trouble here, and Kon could be killed. "And to shop?" He asked trying to make light of the situation. Matsumoto gave him a thumbs up to show that he had hit the nail on the head as far as she was concerned.

"There are indeed reasons for our involvement, yes. But you are familiar with the concept as you traded duties with Rukia-chan to see your family."

Ichigo laughed nervously under Unohana's smile. The sweat running down his back turned to ice. There were many things he was going to have trouble explaining to a taichou. Dad, Urahara, and Kon were just the most damning. "Well as long as our assignments get done, right?" He asked wearily.

"Of course," Unohana replied still smiling.

"Why don't you introduce us?" Unohana prompted after an awkward silence. Kon giggled nervously and stepped slightly behind Ichigo.

Ichigo cleared his throat, "Um yes. Everyone," He addressed the room. "This is my brother Kon."

Kon gave them all a small wave. "Hello."

"Um, this is Unohana-taichou of the 4th Division," Ichigo told Kon. Unohana nodded politely. "The one on my head is Yachiru-fukutaichou of the the 11th Division," He jabbed his thumb back at Yachiru. "The one you can't stop staring at is Matsumoto-fukutaichou of the 10th."

Kon stopped being nervous long enough to glare at Ichigo. He had hoped that his wandering gaze hadn't been noticed. Ichigo was naming off a lot of heavy hitters among the Shinigami. He could get himself into a lot of trouble here.

Ichigo gestured at Hinamori, "The is Hinamori-fukutaichou from the 5th and my caretaker when I first went to Seireitei."

Hinamori beamed at her introduction. "Yoroshiku," She bowed toward Kon who automatically bowed back. He stood up looking surprised by his action.

Ichigo shrugged. Hinamori's politeness tended to rub off on people. He wasn't surprised. He barely cussed out loud anymore because of her influence. "Aaand- What the hell are you doing?" Ichigo demanded when his eyes landed on Rukia going through his closet. Yachiru hopped off Ichigo onto the bed next to Hinamori. She was used to these spats between Ichigo and Rukia. They had become her main form of entertainment.

Rukia looked very unconcerned with his tone. "Well, it's a bit small but adequate; I've slept in worse. There is even a futon in here," She said planting herself in front of Ichigo.

"Adequate for what?" Ichigo asked.

"I have decided to take you up on your offer to stay in your closet," She explained cheerfully.

"When did I offer?" Ichigo demanded.

Kon's jaw dropped, "Dude, that worked for you?"

Ichigo growled at Kon's implications. "This is Kuchiki Rukia, who's sole purpose is to make my life miserable."

"Hey, you were the one that wanted to be friends," Rukia poked Ichigo in the side playfully.

Ichigo smiled down at her and rested his elbow on her head.

"Hey!" Rukia yelled slapping his arm away.

Kon also slapped Ichigo on the back of the head prompting a giggle from Rukia and a hand chop to the stomach from Ichigo.

Kon deftly sidestepped the move and took Rukia's hand in his own. Ichigo had no idea how to treat women. Kon would just have to show him how it was done. "Rukia-nee-sama, you are a treasure," He said with eyes shining. "My closet is available anytime you need."

Rukia quickly snatched her hand away from Kon and blushed. "Thanks, I think," She mumbled.

As Kon tried his best to hit on Rukia Matsumoto slipped up behind Ichigo and pulled him into her bosom. "You need to hurry up and tell Rukia-chan how you feel soon, or your charming brother over there will sweep her off her feet and steal her from you," She whispered in his ear.

"For the last time, I don't have feelings like that for Rukia," Ichigo said valiantly trying to push himself away from Matsumoto's cleavage. "And Kon isn't charming."

Rukia laughed at something Kon said then hit him over the head. Ichigo rolled his eyes at Matsumoto's knowing glance.

Matsumoto sighed, "Denial doesn't suit the strong," She patted Ichigo on the back. "I'm rooting for ya buddy."

"There's nothing to root for," Ichigo complained.

"Uhuh," Matsumoto said with an exaggerated lilting tone and actually winked at him. "But I have more pressing matters with you."

_Oh no, _Ichigo thought, _She's going to say something about dad. _

"Where is Shiba-taichou?" Matsumoto asked bouncing on her toes.

Ichigo face-palmed. Her question caught the attention of Unohana who had sat herself down at Ichigo's desk. She set down his English homework to gaze at him with a slightly raised eyebrow. "My my, I haven't heard that name in quite awhile. It would be good to catch up with an old colleague."

Both Ichigo and Kon stopped breathing at her words.

"Shiba?" Hinamori asked. "The noble clan that was kicked out of Seireitei?"

"Oops," Matsumoto said covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry Ichigo. I just got too excited about being able to see Shiba-taichou again-"

Ichigo shook his head. It was just too much to ask Matsumoto to keep a secret. Even Yachiru was better at it.

"It's not what you think?" He said to Unohana.

"And what am I thinking?" Unohana asked gently. "I do not sense any Shinigami level reiatsu save our own. He is nearby?"

"Probably downstairs in his office," Ichigo confirmed.

"Hmm," Unohana studied both Ichigo and Kon closely. "You both resemble him. It's a wonder I didn't see it before."

"See what?" Rukia asked.

"Shiba Isshin is your father, isn't he?" Unohana asked.

Ichigo nodded.

"We thought him dead," Unohana said.

"Almost," Was all Ichigo said in reply. It was true, sort of, Isshin had almost died killing Aizen's experimental hollow. Unohana didn't need to know that Isshin had gone back to Seireitei before deciding to give up his powers and stay in the living world.

"No wonder you look so much like Kaien-sama," Rukia broke in. She stared down at the floor unable to look at Ichigo. "Why didn't you say anything?"

The unshed tears Ichigo could hear in her voice made Ichigo feel bad for not telling her the truth. "It would have only complicated things with my training. No one wanted my heritage to interfere with me becoming a Shinigami."

"Being near powerless for so long must have been hard on your father," Unohana said compassionately. "I certainly would not want my old colleagues to find me that way."

Ichigo winced. He didn't really believe that his dad regretted his choice, really he didn't. "I'm not sure," He fixed his gaze on the window hyper aware of everyone looking at him. Even if Unohana was empathizing with his father, why did she have to bring up things like that?

Thankfully Ichigo was saved from the awkward moment by his mom knocking on his door and immediately following up by opening the door without waiting for an answer. Whatever she had come to say died on her lips as she saw the five women sprawled around the room.

Slowly Masaki closed her mouth and leaned on the door frame with crossed arms. "So," she said brightly as she cracked a half smile at Ichigo and Kon, "Still choosing your type?"

All of the Shinigami women stared back at her in shock. Most of them were surprised that Masaki could see them at all.

Kon started laughing. "It's his fault," he said pointing at Ichigo. "I have nothing to do with this."

"Mom," Ichigo said indignant. He could feel his face turning red with embarrassment.

"Mom?" Matsumoto asked looking between Ichigo and Masaki. The two did look a lot alike, much more so than Ichigo looked like her old memories of Shiba-taichou. "It's you!" Matsumoto squealed. She ran up to Masaki and took the surprised woman's hands in her own. "It's so nice to finally meet you in person. There's so many questions, so many embarrassing things to tell you about. Most importantly," her voice dropped to a stage whisper, "Why?"

"Why what?" Masaki asked confused at the enthusiastic greeting. "Oh, you're Matsumoto-san."

"Yup!" Matsumoto nodded enthusiastically.

"Wow. You're so much... bouncier than I had thought you would be," Masaki tittered.

Matsumoto laughed unabashed by the typical reaction. She leaned in conspiratorially covering her mouth with her hand so that no one could read her lips. But she didn't drop her voice at all, "For the record we are hoping Ichigo picks Rukia," She said pointing Rukia out to Masaki. "The little lost waif who needs a strong man to open her heart up and show her how to love again after the tragic loss of her mentor and long time crush."

Masaki couldn't help it; she laughed. Matsumoto's playful nature was contagious. She also couldn't help laughing as the two in question stared at opposite walls of the room and endeavored to look as offended as possible.

"Where is Shiba-taichou right now? I do so want to see him again," Matsumoto looked over Masaki's shoulder to see if Isshin would magically appear at her words. When he didn't her hopeful gaze shifted once more to Masaki.

Masaki smiled slyly. She sensed a co-conspirator in Matsumoto. "Promise to scare him?"

Matsumoto winked and giggled a touch maniacally.

"Downstairs through the door in the kitchen. His office is on the left," Masaki said pointing down the hall.

Matsumoto stood up strait and saluted, "Yes ma'am," And bounced out the door.

"I like her," Masaki said to no one in particular. Then she sobered up and studied the rest of the Shinigami more closely. It took her only a moment to pick out the one placidly sitting at her son's desk as the leader.

"Most guest enter through the front door," Masaki rebuked the whole group. "But I don't think that you expected any of us to be able to see you either. Shinigami have bad manners that way."

Rukia and Hinamori blushed embarrassed. Yachiru started kicking her feet at the air . A big smile spread across her face, secure in the fact that "most" didn't apply to her.

"Hi Ichi-chan's Mommy," She said brightly.

Masaki smiled back indulgently. Cute kids always got to her.

A sudden scream from down stairs indicated that Matsumoto had found Isshin.

Masaki grinned evilly, "Why don't we all go downstairs, have some tea, and save my husband from an aneurysm. You and Isshin can catch up."

Unohana stood from the desk and bowed politely, "We regret our intrusion. Our club president wanted to see her play mate."

Kon snorted suspiciously from behind Ichigo. Ichigo Kicked backward swiftly and felt his foot connect with Kon's shin causing him to yelp.

"Thank you for the invitation; we will accept," Unohana finished diplomatically ignoring the boys.

"None of us are corporeal," Ichigo reminded them pragmatically.

"We can fake it for the sake of politeness," Unohana said patting him on the head as she passed. Once she was out the door Masaki followed with a glance over her shoulder.

Rukia and Hinamori shared a glance. Neither of them had ever been in a situation quite like this one. They both stared blankly at Ichigo and Kon waiting for a cue. Kon and Ichigo shared their own uneasy glance.

Finally Kon stepped forward, "Ladies," He bowed and gestured for them to proceed him down stairs. Hinamori smiled thankfully at him and grabbed a still confused Rukia and dragged her out of the room.

As Kon passed Ichigo to lead the girls downstairs he deliberately bumped shoulders with Ichigo. Ichigo nodded back graciously a bit surprised. It was as close to a thank you as Kon had ever given him.

Ichigo felt Yachiru's weight settle on his shoulder. "What's going on?" She asked curiously.

Ichigo thought about it. The answer in short was a lot, but Yachiru was not the kind of person that you shared detailed information with.

"You know how Kenpachi keeps getting in trouble for not turning in reports?" He asked. It seemed the best way to sum it up.

"Yup!"

"Well my dad hasn't turned in a report in over twenty years."

Yachiru slipped off his shoulder onto the floor. She had her serious, pouty face on. "Hana-chan is going to use her scary face, isn't she?"

"Probably," Ichigo confirmed.

Yachiru grabbed his hand and patted it. Ichigo flinched slightly before realizing that she was trying to comfort him. "I'm gonna hide behind you, okay?" She said grinning up at him.

Ichigo smiled a bit, "I was going to hide behind you," He teased.

Yachiru shook her head. "Wont work. You're too big," She said seriously.

Ichigo laughed lightly and tugged on her hand, "Come on. You're stalling."

"Your stalling," Yachiru said shaking her head in denial, but she didn't move a centimeter.

Ichigo just started walking dragging Yachiru behind him by the hand. "Come on. It would only be worse of they have to send someone to come and get us."

Downstairs everyone, including Isshin and Matsumoto, was sitting on any available seat in both the living area and the kitchen. Rukia, Hinamori, and Kon had settled on the couch each intent on staying out of the coming conversation between Unohana and Isshin. Those two sat across form each other at the table. Matsumoto sat next to Unohana looking very contrite for getting her former taichou in trouble. Masaki sat next to Isshin. Ichigo and Yachiru both decided to hold up the wall by the stairs. It was out of range of the table but still close enough that they wouldn't miss anything that was being said.

"If I had known so many lovely ladies were come to come and visit I would have bought a bigger house," Isshin commented jovially.

Unohana smiled genuinely, "You never change, do you?"

Isshin laughed nervously, "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

Unohana laughed lightly.

"I would have expected Onmitsukidou," Isshin commented.

Unohana shook her head, "Believe it or not you are not the reason that we are here. Everyone has thought you dead all these years," She said gently. "Officially we are here as a favor to the twelfth to acquire new technological advances for them to play with, and Yachiru wanted to see her friend again while she was able."

Isshin grinned, "Found a way around the Old Man's no shopping rule?"

Unohana nodded, "I never did like rules," She sighed. But I will have to report you now that I have found you. All I really need to know is why you didn't contact one of the patrols."

Isshin raised an eyebrow, "You haven't figured that out yet?"

"I can come up with a few reasons," Unohana's eyes flickered from Masaki to Kon and Ichigo.

Masaki squared her shoulders ready to defend her children if need be.

"I can't really see the Sou-Taichou doing anything about this," Unohana said suddenly. "At least not until your reiatsu returns to you. About how much longer do you think that will take?"

Isshin exhaled loudly, "A few more decades at least. What about the Council? Just because the Old Man has a brain doesn't mean that they do."

Unohana nodded in agreement, "They may do something stupid as usual." She nodded at Ichigo making him tense. "But angering certain parties will be advised against, though some punitive action is almost certain."

"Oh, like Disgracing my family and running them out of Seireitei?" Isshin asked sardonically.

"Head of that, did you?" Unohana rubbed her forehead. The Council always hurt her head.

"Believe it or not I have kept in contact with my son," Isshin replied.

"I am sorry for your family's misfortune. It was a surprising move on the Council's part. Personally, I thought it was idiotic," Unohana tapped her finger on the table. What had happened to the Shiba family had bothered her for many reasons. "They never move that fast either," She said tot he table. Then she looked up and changed the subject. "That is an impressive gigai, by the way."

"I'm not going to hand Urahara over to you," Isshin grunted. "He has helped me and my family more than once."

Unohana waved her hand, "That is not what I meant. We know where Urahara-san is. The Shinigami are under strict orders not to do anything as long as he stays out of the Soul Society. I merely wanted to know how much a gigai like that would cost me."

Ichigo stifled a laugh.

"Good luck there," Isshin shook his head. "What council member had the balls to put forth an order like that? Urahara told me that they wanted to throw him in the Muken for safe keeping."

"The Soul King of course," Unohana said. "He didn't want his pet hurt."


End file.
